Hero, Monster, or Both?
by Blackbeltchick715
Summary: Danny is on the run after all those he cares about either died or turn their back on him, and has little hope of ever living a normal life with the murders he is framed for looming over his head. Maybe the Titans can help, if he lets them. Summary sucks, but the story will be good. Was an M! Now moved down to a T rating. May go back up to an M later...
1. X Marks the City

**Yay! My first fanfic ever! And a crossover between my two favorite shows! ****This story will start out on the Teen Titans episode "X" from season three and no PP in the Danny Phantom world.** Anyways, I hope you enjoy! 

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans.**

* * *

**Prologue**

How would I describe myself? That is a hard question, if you asked me that three years ago, I would have said that I was a goofy kid at the bottom of the popularity chain, dreaming of being an astronaut, and loved to hang out with my best friend Tucker Foley, and my girlfriend, Sam Manson all while enjoying life and hunting ghosts on the side thanks to my ghost powers, my friends and my older sister, Jazz. Now however, I would respond as a bitter, bi-polar, border-line insane, anti-social, ex-hero on the run from the Guys in White and my former parents, not to mention the only people that have ever stood up for me are now dead and I'm being framed for murder.

Yeah, life sucks. But there is never anything you can do, especially when it spins out of control, and for me, that happened three years ago, when I got my so called powers. This is my life, and it isn't pretty. For example, the freak accident that turned me into a halfa, half ghost, half human. I was a superhero, or supervillain, which ever you prefer.

Back in my home town, I was considered both. How? Easy, most of the teens at my high school thought of me as a hero since I would always show up to destroy the ghosts that would attack the school, the adults would only see me as a menace that destroyed the town when these ghosts attacked.

Quite frankly I don't care what anyone thinks of me anyways, I know what I have done to help people and that's all that matters. I have to keep a low profile due to recent events; fortunately, no one knows my secret, and those that do want to keep it that way. Yet somehow they always manage to track me down and I end up running again, like four or five days ago when a gas station gets robbed while I'm in it and my alter ego, Danny Phantom decides that he wants to help, and well you can do the math. So I have tried to stop assisting people when they needed it. And every time, I end up helping anyways because of this stupid hero complex that was formed in my mind. After my life blew up in my face, I ended up with the only person that would possibly understand, and, of course, I absolutely hated him with a fire burning passion. Vlad Masters a.k.a Vlad Plamius, as he is known in his ghost form. He rescued me from the GIW after they captured me. After that, I tried to leave, I knew my future if I stayed with him, I would grow up to be the most powerful and evil ghost to ever exist and destroy the world.

Definitely not the future I had planned out for myself. I did try to explain everything to Vlad, one that I hated him, and two my predicted future if I did live with him. However he gave me something to think about and it made me realize that he was going to be the only person that could keep me alive and safe from everyone else that was hunting me.

_Flashback_

_"Daniel," he called out as I was walking to the front door of his mansion, "you think I don't know how you feel. You think I don't realize how hard life might be for you. You may hate me but realize that if you say with me, I can protect you."_

_ "Why would I want to do that?! I hate you. You have always tried to hurt me or tried to destroy some part of my life just so you could be with my mom and have me as your 'perfect' half ghost son!" I screamed back at him, "Why should I even trust that you have changed! Why should I believe that you will help me when your past actions towards me speaks otherwise!"_

_ "I realize that Daniel, I have tried to do things that were not my best decisions in the past but you must realize that, and I don't wish to be cruel about this, but if you parents can't accept you, their own son, as the half ghost that they created themselves, then what chance do I have to win over your mothers affections to me, a half ghost they created twenty years ago." He reasoned, solemnly he continued "Daniel, I'm not going to try to hurt you anymore, I have lost everything that you have as well. Everything I have planned for the past twenty years has just backfired on me because of the fact that your parents, my friends and the love of my life, hate what we have become and will never accept us because of that."_

_End of Flashback_

As much as I wanted to walk out of that door right then and there, to leave and never come back, I realized that he was right. Everything had come crashing down on me the second I tried to tell my parents that I was half ghost. I ended up collapsing on the floor, my knees curled up to my chest with my head between my knees all while tears streaming down my face. I finally realized how lost I felt, how screwed up everything had become just because I wasn't fully human, I was a freak, a monster and as much as I hated to admit it, Vlad was right. I thought that they would at least try to understand what was wrong; I thought that they would love me as their son more than their hatred for ghosts, but I was dead wrong. Ghosts being evil won that battle in lest then a second, and after all the times I had helped them, saved them, save Jazz, and the town from ghost attacks, I was still an evil ectoplasmic entity that should be vanquished on sight. Vlad was really the only thing I had left. I felt someone's hand on my back, trying to sooth me from the shaking and crying mess that I had become. I lifted my head and looked into the eyes of the man who was in the same pain as me. His eyes showed emotions of pain and sadness. I had to stay with him. No matter how I felt about him in the past, or what he has tried to do to me, it didn't matter anymore. We were now outcasts. Enemies in the eyes of those we once loved and cared about. We needed each other. I didn't trust him right away, but staying with him was safer than running from the law and my now ex-parents.

For the next two and a half years I hid in plain sight by staying with Vlad in his mansion. No ghost hunter would ever think that Phantom would get anywhere near Plamius, the Wisconsin ghost and also known as my arch-rival, so it was the perfect place to hide. Vlad helped me train, not only my human side, but helped me develop my ghost powers as well. I could now duplicate myself, teleport, my cryokinesis abilities improved greatly too along with learning how to use the telekinesis powers that all ghosts are able to posses. My ecto-blasts were stronger and required less energy to produce. I could create fire, not hot fire due to my icy core, but a cold ectoplasmic green fire that was, similar to dry ice, so cold that it burned. I could also maintain my Ghostly wail longer and be able to use it more than once plus it wasn't as taxing on my ghostly self as it use to be. I also had more muscle, of course being 17 almost 18 and almost 6'4" helped. I'm not huge, more properly proportioned but I was defiantly bigger than the scrawny fourteen year old kid I once was. I had grown a lot after moving in with Vlad.

Vlad wasn't the only one that helped me train, I went to the ghost zone for most of my training, and met somewhat of a master. He has many names, but that's not the point, the main point is that he helped me out a few times and in return, I help him with some of his work, most being nonviolent, but I did have to take over for him a couple of times. He did give me some good advice though, and so far it is helping me get over my tough situation.

Anyways, I left all of my old things at my former families house, but I also gained a few things when I moved in with Vlad. I graduated high school early due to home schooling, thanks to Vlad. He also bought me everything I wanted to change my look as well, so I changed both of my looks, human and ghost, my name, and later my ghostly name as well. While human I now wore a tight, cotton, white v-necked shirt that showed off my muscles with a black and white pin-striped vest. I wore darker blue jeans and black sneakers, and a black and white belt complete with the DP logo belt buckle completed the look. I changed my hair style as well, with a full on skater-surfer look with my hair reaching my shoulders, and had bleached my raven colored hair to a blond with neon blue accents. I always had a pair of sunglasses, usually Aviators or Oakley's, covering my eyes or on top of my head. I changed my name from Danny Fenton to James Masters, using my middle name and Vlad's last name. Though I hated having to use it, I was able to stay under the radar from everyone that was after me so it wasn't all bad, plus Vlad was able to get me a new I.D. card that had my new name on it.

My ghost form was completely different from what it use to look like. I had Vlad custom ordered my new clothes that would become my ghost form after I had provided a detailed sketch of it. I first ditched the hazamat suit, as it was a dead giveaway to who I was, and that wasn't going to help me get anywhere. So while I kept the same color scheme, I added the green to it as well, the toxic neon green color of my eyes to the already black and white. I wore a tight, black, long sleeve shirt; that also showed off my toned and muscular body along with black cargo pants. I had white, steel toed combat boots laced with the neon green and the steel on the boots are the same green color. I had a white combat belt with the basic pockets for first aid supplies, the infi-map given to me by Frostbite, and a more portable Fenton thermos, along with a few ghost fighting weapons. I had white, half fingerless leather gloves that also exposed the palm of my hand as well, stitched with the neon green thread. My favorite part of the outfit was the sleeve-less, white leather trench coat, which almost reached the ground maybe a centimeter above, and it was specially designed with a deep hood that would cast a shadow over my whole face only exposing the two toxic green orbs that were my eyes, along with black diamond spikes, three placed in each of the shoulders on the coat. This also had a neon green strip placed and the very edge of the coat, and outlined the rim of my hood fading to white as it reached my shoulders.

I had added two weapons that I could someone while in my ghost or human form. One was a cane, with a black wood that was sturdily woven with metal so that it wouldn't break from my superhuman strength, and when necessary, I could pull on the handle and a two foot long blade made of ectoranium would emerge. I typically kept the cane with me in my human form. My Scythe on the other hand, was more of my ghost form weapon, with a blade also being made of ectoranium. The staff was black, and it glittered with black and white diamonds embedded in the wood, it also looked like it was an old branch off of a tree, and sanded down and formed into a weapon. The blade carried the famous DP logo, and extended out of the back end, making it a double sided weapon, I could either slash with the long blade or impale with the three spikes that form the outside of the D in the logo.

The appearance the ectoramiun would give was breath taking in my opinion, the eerie glow of the neon green blade was freaky enough, then, and on top that the blades gave off a weird mist like appearance, similar to a dry ice affect, I loved it. The looks on faces when I pulled either of the two weapons out were priceless.

Both Vlad and I were very cautious when I was living there, as I said earlier, I had told him about my predicted future of becoming the most evil ghost in the world and how it would happen, so he was prepared to not let my emotions of sadness and depression get the better of me. He had me meditate to get my mind off of these things, as well and increase my mental barriers to protect my mind from possible overshadows of other ghosts and from some people who could break into my mind with magic. We had many plans made for multiple different worst case scenarios. All of them being that I would have all the money I would every need in multiple life times, as well as moving me to a town that already had hero's in it so I wouldn't draw attention to myself by being a hero.

Unfortunately, my time with Vlad ended when the GIW figured out that Vlad was also a half ghost. How they did that will remain a mystery to me, they ended up surrounding the house and eventually destroyed it with the help of, you guessed it, my former parents by using a new weapon, the ecto-bomb, which would rip all ectoplasmic entities apart and killing them fully. Me and Vlad and gotten to his lab before they started to invade the house, mansion whatever you want to call it, and searching for us. We were going to escape via the ghost portal, I had just entered it when the portal closed, just as the bomb had gone off. It was Clockwork that told me that Vlad died saving me by closing the portal before the grenade exploded. I gained more respect for him after learning that, so I headed to Jump City as we had planned, it was always being saved by the Teen Titans so I figured I could hide out there for a few years before moving on to another city.

I was wrong, again.

**Chapter 1**

**Present Day: Danny's POV**

I was running again, the sound of gunfire not far behind me. _How did they find me so freaking fast?_ I thought, _I kept the lowest profile ever, I mean I was in the freaking woods, living in a cave for the past few days!_ A blast came too close and sent me flying a few feet. I landed with a thud before flipping myself up, and began running again. I would go ghost but the stupid Plasmas Maximus had shorted out my powers within the first few minutes of running._They must have taken it when they blew up the mansion._

I have been running for what seemed like forever. I cleared the woods and was coming up on a city, I had no idea what city, but there were people, and I could hide much easier here. As I ran, I could hear the agents shouting into their mics about trying to keep me from reaching the city.

I swear if I wasn't powerless I would turn and kill the damn bastards myself for what they did to me, my friends, and my sister. I had been running from these guys for three years now, the Guys in White, and they still won't give up on me. Then again being a hybrid made me something special to these idiots so I continued running. Trees flew past me as I ran, sweat dripping down my face as I ducked and dodged tree branches and ectoplasmic laser blasts from the agents. The city wasn't far way now, maybe three hundred yards left before I reached the welcome billboard. _Jump City, finally! Too bad they know I'll be in the city_, I thought, _If I even make it to the city_. I turned onto the sidewalk and ran towards the most crowded place I could find. Sadly that was a small coffee shop and it was closed. So, I decided to head farther into the city, taking an alley way and cutting my way around the slum areas. I looked over my shoulder and noticed that the agents weren't following me anymore, but that didn't mean I was in the clear. I stayed in the shadows as I slowed my pace a little. I wish I could heighten my senses and try to find the GIW agents, but my powers were still being locked out. I sighed as I stopped at the corner of two alleys.

I peered around the corner, making sure the coast was clear before heading down the one on the left towards the big city. I spotted a small shopping center and figured that it would be safest to hide there for a couple of hours, not to mention snag a new outfit. I was currently wearing a pair of ripped up dark blue jeans, my black sneakers, and a white v-neck t-shirt that was unfortunately drenched in sweat and full of singe marks, while my black vest was looking just as tattered. _On second thought, maybe heading to a crowded place looking like this isn't such a great idea_, I thought to myself. I guess I'm stuck until my powers come back. Stopped at the end of the alley way, leaning up against the cold stone, before slowly sliding down it, my knees in front of me, my arms out in front, resting on my knees, and my head resting back up against the wall, looking towards the sky. I thought back on the past three years, how I ended up at Vlad Masters just for my own safety, desperate times call for desperate measures I guess. The only good thing that can come out of his death is that I wouldn't become _HIM_.

I must have fallen asleep because the sounds of a battle going on in a nearby warehouse woke me up. My ghost sense didn't go off so I planned on ignoring the battle, but it sounded like it was going to last a while, I figured I would go check it out. _No, this is why you keep getting caught, because of trying to help people._ I yelled at myself, mentally. I tuned my hearing so that I could listen closely. _Wait, I have my powers back,_ I charged an ecto-blast in my palm, grinning to myself as I let the energy die. _I guess I would at least watch, and then decide if they need help._ I changed into my ghost form, the blue rings appearing at my waist and splitting me in half, changing my appearance to my ghost form. Then phased thru the wall, and while keeping myself intangible, I also made myself invisible along with my mental blocks as well, and continued until I was in the warehouse. _Of course, the Teen Titans, figures._ I mentally cursed, but I noticed that they were getting their butts kicked.

"Come on kids, X marks the spot." Said a black figure pointing to the red x on his chest. I silently laughed at his teasing comment before continuing to watch, still intangible and invisible, I silently followed the X dude. It wasn't hard to figure out which Titan was which, based off of what I had observed and heard on the news, I knew that the big blue and silver metal African-American guy was Cyborg, as he shot a blue beam towards the villain, the X guy jumped out of the way, flipping on to a black box that was flying at him thanks to who I assumed was Raven by the way dressed with a black leotard and a dark blue cloak, with the hood pulled over her head. Somehow he managed to dodge some green blast thrown by Starfire, the alien with orange hair and, glowing green eyes? Seeing as I am the only ghost in the room, they couldn't be ecto-blasts, not to mentions the orbs, bolts, spheres, whatever you want to call them, were hot. I was close enough to feel the heat from them, mine where cold due to the ectoplasm in my body. The scrawny green skin and green haired dude was Beast Boy; of course him turning into animals was a dead give-a-way to his name, as he turned into a giant green monkey, most likely a gorilla or some other type of large ape, and attempted to smash he guy. X, as I was going to call him now, teleported out of the way, and I began looking to where I thought he would appear next.

I had guessed right when he reappeared on the box of crates behind the group. The last was a slightly less scrawny guy dresses as a traffic light, which was obviously Robin, who seemed to know how this guy's suit was working._Hmm, I wonder why that is?_ Robin tackled him from the top of the crates and they went rolling down on the ground a few times before separating. Robin pulled out a red and yellow weapon and thru it at X as he landed in front facing Robin. The weapon was fast, but X was faster, teleporting behind Robin, _Man I was good,_ and threw a punch to the back of his head. I guess Robin knew X was behind him as he dodged the first punch and faking a leg sweep catching his second punch in-between his black combat boots and threw him over, well I would say the shoulder but seeing as how both shoulders are near the ground I'm not so sure, maybe just over himself? They threw a few more punches before Robin was on his back against the ground. It was easy to predict where the X guy was going to reappear, well for me at least, so I made a game out of it. So far I was two for two.

X jumped and was going to slam his foot down on Robin's face. Fortunately for Robin, he caught X's foot just in time and slammed him into the wall of wooden boxes; _too bad the box ghost wasn't here, he would be having a field day_, and grabbed the skull like mask and slammed it against the wood.

"Who are you?" Robin asked curiously. I decided to intervene and mess with his suit, just a little. I put my hand against the back of his belt and cooled the inside of his belt, just enough so that he would have a small issue. This just wasn't a fair fight for the five.

"If I wanted you to know that, would I be wearing a mask?" X his metallic voice countered; _he obviously had a voice disguiser in the mask_, before zapping the boy wonder and punching him into another pile of crates. Cyborg and Raven appeared and began to tag team attack, only to zapped by X as well. I flinched, I knew all too well the pain of being zapped like that, and it wasn't pleasant.

"Looks like you got your wires crossed." He commented, again. If he wasn't the bad guy, I would be cracking up. Starfire showed up and began launching her green orb things at X. I knew I shouldn't get my hopes up when it looked like she was going to actually be the first titan, other than Robin, to land a somewhat decent hit on him. And I was right. X turned around and launched a giant X at her which trapped her to the brick. "You know cutie, the only crime here is that you and I haven't gone out on a-" he began before she blasted him with her eyes. Well she did get a hit, too bad it was later than I expected.

I sigh as I watch Beast Boy charge him, as a green polar bear? It was like he hasn't been watching the entire fight, the ground split beneath the bear thanks to another trick by X.

"Watch your step." Again, another witty comment from X, man this guy was good. I should intervene a little more, but this was entertaining. The X guy flipped Robin over and picked up a gun before making an exit. I figured I should intervene again and close line him, then watch the Kodak moment of faces the Titans would make. Robin got up and continued to follow him, stating he wouldn't let him get away. X turned and shot some form of rope at his feet, causing Robin to trip and fall to the ground. Sighing again, I got into position. I guess they got a small break when the belt stopped working. _I guess I don't need to make my grand appearance after all, oh well._ I thought, _At least they should now have a chance to catch him._

I followed them up thru the roof as X punched the belt to get it working again, Robin dove at him while X did a flip before commenting, "Catch you later," then teleported and disappeared. Robin was upset, that I knew for sure. I chuckled silently at the Titans, they couldn't even stop a simple dude that was running around with a big target on his chest. Before I left the roof, I noticed that they were just confused about who this X guy was. Apparently Robin made the X suit and used it. _Huh, guess that's how he knew how the suit really worked. Well, it's their problem, not mine._

Too bad my hero complex thought otherwise as I ended up following the guy in the X suit.

**Raven POV**

After we got back to the tower, I began thinking about that mysterious presence that was also at the X fight. I didn't pay much attention to it, but it was there, like it was just out of my reach, I knew it was powerful, but how powerful and why was it even there? Is it on our side, or against us? What did it even want? I would have to meditate on this later, finding X was more important. I wasn't going to tell my team about the strange presence just yet, not until I was sure it was there and not my imagination.

"Zynothium. The fuel that powers the suit." Robin explained. I heard Starfire gasp.

"No." I said. _Crap. That was bad. Zynothium was a very unstable chemical. Why on earth would Robin use that as a fuel source?_ Cyborg began yelling at Robin about using it as a fuel source. We need to stop Red X now, before he gets his hands on any more of that chemical. Cyborg downloaded the chemical signature so that we could track it while Robin went to find it the old fashion way, out on the street.

We all split up searching for the ore with the tracker Cy gave us, so while I waited for the beep signaling that I was close, my thoughts wandered to that strange presence again. The more I thought about it, the more I realized there actually was something there. But what? The strange whispers were just out of my grasp, the mind was being guarded by a strong mental shield that I haven't felt since being in Azarath. Thinking back there was a barely audible laugh, right after X had made a comment about us. But was it laughing at the sarcasm, or at us? Not to mention that X's belt stopped working even though none of us had even gotten close to damaging it? Now I was curious. I was forced back to reality when Cyborg asked us if we found anything. Wow, somehow I ended up in a graveyard. So typical me. Oh well. I told Cy no when Robin said he had and was sending the coordinates to us.

I headed off towards the direction of the coordinates, figures it would be at the top of a skyscraper, so dramatic, just like Robin. I phased thru the floor of the roof, and pulled my hood off before saying, "No sign of Red X."

Starfire landed next to me, "Nor of Cyborg." That concerned me, Robin pulled out his communicator to call Cyborg, but there was no response. Now I was worried. What if X did attack Cyborg? Or worse, that strange entity? My mind began to wonder again as Starfire tried to comfort Robin about his past as X. Something just didn't feel right. I was brought back to the situation at hand when a metallic like voice interrupted the conversation.

"And personally, I think it looks much cooler on me." It belonged to none other than X. He jumped off the ledge above us and threw two hand full's of shurkins at Robin and Starfire. Beast Boy, who was now a Rhino, and I charged after Red X. He turned and launched a medium sized x that hit rhino Beast Boy and the force caused the green rhino to fly into me. Unfortunately that also meant I was now stuck to BB as the x formed a sticky, rubber band like trap as we continued to sail across the roof and almost off the edge. Luckily Starfire was there to keep us up, using her alien strength to stop us and set us down next to her, a few feet from the ledge. Robin was walking over to us as I blew a puff of air at the green tail the lay on top of my face.

"And now I smell like Rhino butt." I deadpanned, while Star tried to release us from the trap, though all it did was allow BB to change back into his human form as we fell back down on the roof with a thunk.

"Dude, you think you gave this guy enough gadgets!" Beast Boy complained. I sensed that presence again, and I swore I heard some chuckling at my embarrassing situation. I knew there was something there, I just couldn't figure out what _it_ was. And it was driving me crazy. We eventually got free and headed into the building's main floor where had disappeared to. _Great idea Robin, lets stand at the top of the skyscraper, were a wrong move can kill us, when we are just going to have to go into the building's basement to stop X._ Then again, I never try to understand what goes on in a guy's head anyway.

"Split up, and be careful. I don't want anyone else getting hurt." Robin ordered before taking off down a corridor in front of us. We did as we were told. I glided down my hallway when a shadowy figure ran by a door frame, I sensed another presence, figuring it was X, I went to investigate. Footsteps sounded behind me as I entered the other hallway and I turned only to see two bright red flashes of light that threw me against the wall. My head was spinning as I struggled to clear it, only to realize a red goo began to encase me against the wall. Struggling was no use, as most of my body was already covered, and quickly spread to my face. I took a big breath of air as the substance covered my head and everything went dark as I blacked out.

**Danny's POV**

I sighed, _this is boring, and dangerous, if I get caught by _them _again, there is no way I'll be able to escape. I just help out one more time, though these lame excuse for hero's should handle it on their own. What is this guy looking for anyways?_ The gun thing flashed, showing a complex chemical was within a mile of our current location. I gasped, knowing what the structure of the molecule was. _Zynothium! He is looking for Zynothium! Is this guy crazy! That stuff is highly unstable and completely dangerous. Is he trying to get himself blown up and or disintegrated!_ I defiantly needed to help now. This was a very dangerous chemical, one that if used the wrong way or disturbed by a sudden jerky movement would cause a painful experience for anyone within a ten foot radius.

We found ourselves on the top of a skyscraper, why we were up here was beyond me, but we were and we waited, or he waited I watched invisibly and intangible still, as four of the five titans showed up on the roof. They seemed worried that their last friend, Cyborg, wasn't here. X didn't do anything to him, but something didn't feel right. I threw up my mental block just in case. You never know who could read minds now days with all the superhero's that run around.

"And personally, I think it looks much cooler on me." Red X said, finally making himself know to the other four teens. _And round two, DING! _I thought as the battle began. _A rhino, really, does this guy not learn from past mistakes._ The battle didn't last long as the hero's got their butts kicked, again. _That's two for Red X and zero for the Titan's._

"And now I smell like Rhino butt." Raven deadpanned. I nearly exposed myself with laughter when I heard that comment, and looked at the situation. I felt bad for her, she was strapped to the green Rhino's butt, and it looked like it wasn't going to change any time soon.

"Dude, you think you gave this guy enough gadgets!" the green guy whined as he was back in his human form. A small chuckle escaped my lips, but it was so quiet that I was sure no one heard me. That's when I noticed that X was gone. _Damn it Danny. Good going, you let the wannabes distract you._ I mentally cursed at myself. I left the area, flying down to the basement trying to find X again. I turned visible, my ghost form was an intimidating sight to look at, especially when I was looking at someone, all they would see were my glowing green eyes, the shadow from my hood covered my entire face. I scanned the room, looked up at the group of teens flying thru the roof and went invisible again. I floated over to the wall behind them and watched for a second before phasing thru it and searching for X. I didn't get much progress though as I heard a scream, sounding like one of the girls, unless Robin had a girly scream. I snickered at the thought, then realized that one of them was in trouble and I started flying again, trying to find them. When I did find them, I noticed that Beast Boy, who was in the form of a green blood hound, Starfire, and Raven, were all frozen in some form of ice, and being carried out by some guys in these weird looking hazamat suits, and some form of a black mask that had what looked like breath tubes on each side. I could have sworn it was ghost busters come to life. Some also carried these weird looking rods with a form of red electricity crackling at one end. _Those look like they hurt, a lot,_ I noted. Though as intimidating as they looked, I knew I was much scarier. Then again, when you dress like The Reaper and have glowing green bladed scythe, how could you not be intimidating. I figured Robin could handle himself against X, he knew how the suit worked anyways so he was probably better equipped to handle it. These three were in need of my assistance.

I had to settle with followed them back to the observatory, seeing as there were too many of them to fight and I was betting that the energy at the end of some of their staffs could hurt me. We reached the top of a mountain or cliff, which ever you prefer, and I noted as they were placed in three of the five tubes. I gasped as I saw the Cyborg was already in one of the tubes and I assumed the last empty one was for Robin. I overheard one of the guys talking to a screen.

"- and now that I have enough Zynothium to power my disintegrator cannon, I can be very, very bad." They guy said, finishing quietly, then pointed to the telescope. _Oh hell no. A disintegrator cannon! Shit! This is bad. This is very, very bad!_ I needed to do something, I looked around the room and I figured I would get the four Titan's out of there little icy prison first. Then try to stop this leader guy. At least he wasn't wearing one of those stupid masks, but his head gear wasn't much better. _Is that a metal tube sticking out of his nose? Gross!_ Maybe the lame head gears would look better on him instead.

"Oh I think you will, because my good little boy, I didn't just steal the ore, I stole your friends. Stay out of this, or I'll test my cannon on them." He threatened. _Crud, that means I can't interfere without them dying. Damn it!_ I was stuck waiting, again, as I watch the ghost men, as I like to call them, carry in case after case of the Zynothium ore into the building. I needed a good reason to release the teens, but how could I without getting caught. It's not like them all of a sudden being free of their tubes and the ice not being shattered was going to go unnoticed, not to mention I could reveal myself to someone that might know who I am. Man I'm sick of this.

"Building, neighborhoods, lives," the guy started to, while the cannon was getting prepped and began to move out of the dome roof, "countless targets just waiting to be disintegrated." He began to chuckle, then walked over to the tubes where the hero's sat, "Tell me pretty girl, have you ever seen something ripped apart, molecule, by molecule?" He questioned, "Its breath taking."

That made me angry, and apparently Starfire was angry too, as her eyes glowed and broke the ice around her head. That was it. I was interfering and that was that. I flew in front of him.

"Not when you're on the receiving end!" I yelled, using my deep and haunted like tone, turning visible and punched him in the face. He fell to the floor with a thud, slightly dazed he looked up and gasped, "And I would know, it's very painful."

"Who are you?" He asked, in a state of shock.

"Yes, who are you?" Starfire asked, innocently, "and what do you mean, being on the receiving end?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I chuckled half answering their question, then tilted my head down to look at the evil man. "Do you know how unstable that stuff is? One wrong move and this whole place could go up in flames."

He was starting to get up, though there was some fear in his eyes, I could see that. Starfire decided to interrupt at that time.

"It doesn't matter, you shall fail and Robin will come rescue us!" she screamed.

"Robin won't be joining us, not with your lives on the line." He said, then turned to me, "and you, stay out of my way or I will fire the cannon at you as well."

"You want to bet? I know for a fact that Robin will be here, and as for your cann- AHHHH!" I screamed as I got a blast of the electrical rod, then fell to the ground in pain. I forced myself to stay conscious and in my ghost form. Shifting now would be very bad.

"Hmm, put him in Robins' tube, and make sure to freeze him while you're at it." He laughed, while walking to the cannon. I heard the cannon power up and I was being frozen. I activated my icy core and reduced the temp in my boy so the insta-freeze wouldn't be so cold. I could still hear, though it was muted a bit, and semi watched as the leader guy climbed up to the control panel for the cannon. Because of the ice, I couldn't clearly make out what he said, even with my super hearing, so I focused on getting out of the ice. _Easy!_ I thought as I went intangible and floated out next to the hollow ice statue.

"Please, how did you escape the ice?" Starfire questioned, startling me as I become tangible. I didn't notice that she was watching me.

"Easy, I just wished I could get out of the ice, and I did." I lied, her eyes narrowing as I back elbowed the hollow ice statue, and listened to it break and fall to the floor of the tube with a small smile on my lips. I looked back at her while the cannon got ready to launch its first blast.

"We need to get out of here, I have a way, but you're going to have to trust me." I stated to the alien. She nodded, but she didn't seem to by my excuse about the ice.

"Now let them hide from me! Prepare to fire!" The guy said. Robin chose that moment to fly in on a rope and kicked the fruit loop in the head, causing the cannon to miss most of its target.

"You just made a big mistake." Robin growled, as he got ready to pounce at the nut job again, but the nut job ordered his goons to attack robin, so he could fire the cannon again.

"No duh, he just fired the cannon. Don't all the villains make that mistake by pissing you off." I muttered to myself, rolling my eyes as I attempted to get out of the tube without showing all of my powers. The last thing I needed was for these heroes' thinking that I was a threat to them and the city. Apparently the glass casing was stronger than it appeared, but I was sure it would melt if the cannon was fired at us.

"It is no use, we are stuck." Starfire said with a hint of sadness in her voice. "Robin!" I looked over at the boy wonder as he finished six guards, when Starfire called his name to warn him of more coming his way. He quickly beat them when the fruit loop turned the cannon to him and began to fire at will, with the last blast almost hitting him.

"Who should I hit first, you? Or your pretty friends?" He questioned. _Shit! Now I have to go intangible or teleport!_ There was no other option.

"Starfire!" Robin called, as the cannon aimed at her. Just then, X decided to stop by and destroy the main controls for the machine, and save Robin as he began to fall. The cannon started to charge before firing at Starfire, who ducked her head just in time for the beam to miss her head. _That was a close one, thank the mercy of Death himself it was aimed at her head, otherwise she would be dead._ There was no way I could have teleported fast enough to her tube, phase her out of the ice and then teleport her to safety. The cannon then began to malfunction, slicing off half of the building and letting gravity do the rest by taking it down the mountain, so I used the distraction to phase out of my tube, and then proceeded to get the others out by releasing the tubes and melting the ice. I turned to see Robin knock the wacko out of the control seat and down to the ground level as X began to head towards the Zynothium.

"Time to get what I came for." He stated, as Robin intercepted him, landing in-between X and the chemical tubes.

"Times up." Raven said, in a monotone voice, while the other Titan's landed next to Robin.

"Thanks for the help X, but don't think you can help yourself." The boy wonder snapped at him. I floated up next to the Titan's folding my left arm over my right, as if was trying to hide my right arm from view.

"No problem kid," X stated, pointing his arm at the Titans, "This should keep me going for quite a while."

"Somehow, I don't think that it will do you much good without the belt." I said, still using my deep, haunted like voice. I like to play the part of the Reaper, so I created that voice specifically for that reason. Raven turned and gave me a long look before turning back to Red X. Everyone but Robin and Starfire turned to give me a weird look.

"Huh," he said, looking down at the empty space where the belt should be, then back at Robin, who was holding the belt.

"Better luck next time." Robin smirked as X backed up to the ledge, and nearly falling off in the process. I floated over to the other side, ready to take him to jail, already knowing he was going to try to escape.

"Not bad kid, not bad." X said as he smashed the tube and leaped off the cliff, I caught him and turned us both invisible before flying off to drop him off at the nearest jail, while the Titans just stared at the empty sky.

"You are so lucky that I don't kill you right now." I stated, still using my haunted voice.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked, surprise and fear in his voice at the same time. I just chuckled.

"You know, I have many names, some you would be afraid of, and others that just tell you what kind of person I am. Which do you prefer to hear?" I asked.

"Does it matter, you're still going to take me to jail, aren't you?" He said, sounding defeated, though I could tell he was trying to find a way out of my grip.

"True, but don't try to struggle. It won't help your cause. My main name is Eidolon. Some of my more feared names were given to me based off of who I look like. But I'll let your mind wander on that one." I state, still chuckling, my voice even deeper sounding than before. I saw his eyes widen at the name I gave first, meaning he was already fearful of what the others could be. I laughed again.

I dropped him off at a jail, taking his Red X outfit and telling the cops I caught him with multiple attempts of breaking and entering along with stealing. The X just nodded in agreement when I hissed quietly in his ear. The cops asked me who I was and I just gave my usual, creepy laughed before saying in my haunted voice, "You really don't want to know." And I flew off searching for a hotel to stay at, or at least hoping one was still open for me to check into for the night.

**Ravens POV**

I was woken up when the ice was melted, warming me up. _Where am I? And what happened?_ I thought. I noticed the strange presence again, but before I could dwell on the fact that it was here again, I saw X head for the Zynothium.

"Times up." I stated in my monotone voice, levitating behind Robin. I began to search for _it_ again, when an dead and deep sounding voice spoke next to me.

"Somehow I don't think that it will do you much good without the belt." I quickly turned my head to see, it. It was floating next to me, and I could see what it was wearing. It was a white, sleeveless trench coat with a deep hood built-in as if it was a cloak with a neon green trim on the bottom of the coat-cloak and on the hood, and it faded to white as it neared the shoulders. Black spikes along the shoulders of the cloak and a black long-sleeved shirt with white half fingerless gloves, though it looked like its palms were exposed as well. I couldn't tell was type of pants it was wearing, but I figured they were black. And white, steel tipped combat boots with the same neon green as the laces and on the steel tipped part. The hood got in my way so I couldn't see the face, yet. It was emitting a white aura like glow from itself, however, I had no idea if it was it aura or not. But what, I wondered, was it hiding behind the hood and why? I stared at the figure next to me for a few more seconds before turning back to X. BB and Cyborg were staring at the strange figure next to me as well, both of them wide-eyed from shock.

"Better luck next time." I heard Robin say, then noticed the white hooded figure float to the other side of X. I stared confused. _Was this figure helping X? No, if it was, it would have robbed the warehouse instead, and it would have gone to steal the Zynothium for X. So why? _My thoughts were interrupted when the figure turned around, I saw the rest of its outfit as the wind blew the bottom part of the coat away from its legs. Black cargo pants and a white combat belt, but what really drew my attention was the face, or rather the lack of. The shadow of its hood covered the entire face so that all I could see was two piercing, neon toxic green orbs under the hood. I nearly gasped in shock, and couldn't help but stare at this figure. I reached out to probe its mind.

_Jail…_ was all I could get from the figures mind. _So, was it helping by taking X to jail, or saving X from going to jail?_ I was still confused about the whole situation when X raised his hand and smashed the red chemical tube causing an explosion to escape. I immediately put up a shield with my magic to protect the team. When the smoke cleared, X and the hooded figure were gone, leaving myself and the team to stare out over the city from the edge of the cliff.

Robin had us split up, I went to return the chemical to the lab, BB and Starfire were to search for X, Robin went to lock up the belt for good this time, and Cyborg was to make sure that Professor Chang and his goons where safely placed in the high security prison.

The Tower was going to take some time before the damage for Chang's cannon was gone. We all wanted answers, that's for sure, but for me, I just wanted to know _who_ or _what_ that cloaked figure was, and why it was here?

* * *

**So, what did you think? Sorry if it was a little heavy on the episode "X", or didn't deviate much from the either. I can promise that the next chapter or two won't be like that. Well that's all for now, so yeah.**


	2. Settling In part 1

**Ok, hopefully the wait wan't too long for you guys. I spent the better part of the week editing and re-editing this chapter trying to make it perfect for you guys! ****Also, I'm so happy you guys like the story so far, and thanks to those that have left reviews.**

**Coldblue: I plan too, and I like those pairings too, though my favorite is the Danny/Raven pairing.**

**Pufflehuff: Yes, I plan on it. I do tend to do that, but its either over explaining or under explaining so... That is his normal style, tight shirt, vest, though I will have him change the vest out with leather jackets. Yes, I have noticed that as well, Raven being the only one to really be able to detect Danny. I do have Cyborg's sensors and BB's animal instincts being able to detect Danny in this story. I didn't put it in the last chapter but it is in this one. I also plan on putting Beast Boy's POV to show what he sees exactly as well later on.**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter. So enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Raven POV**

"So, am I the only one that got a weird vibe from that white dude?" BB asked when we got back to the tower. We were all trying to figure out who that figure was, or what it was.

"Yeah, man. He was totally creepy. I mean, my scanners where glitching out on me, I was trying to figure out what was wrong with them while trying to stop X." Cyborg agreed.

"I first noticed him when we were fighting X in the warehouse. He gave off a cold death like feeling, but at the same time, not. It's hard to describe." I agreed with the group. This _thing_ was defiantly different, I wasn't sure it that was a good thing.

"Dude! So you mean I wasn't going crazy!" BB exclaimed, waving his arms in the air. We all just stared at him. "Do you know how much of a relief that is! I swear I kept feeling like something was wrong the entire time, that and there was these like weird foggy shimmery like gaps in certain spots and…!"

"So you have seen this man at the house of wares in which X attacked?" Starfire interrupted, all confused.

"Not what he looked like, that wasn't until we were at that lab place with the cannon thingy. The warehouse was the first time I saw what those gap things. But I did get the same feeling from all three places X was at, you know, the warehouse, the roof top of the chemicals, and the, the, the..." BB trailed off, trying to think.

"The astronomy viewing lab?" Robin helped.

"Yeah, that tower thingy we left." BB answered.

Starfire nodded, "When he spoke to Dr. Chang, he was most upset. Please, how could one know the feeling of the ripping apart of molecules?" she said to know one in particular, all of our jaws hit the floor.

"They wouldn't. No one could, they would be dead if that happened." Robin stuttered, trying to explain to Star.

"Not only that, but there would be nothing left of them, no body, nothing. They would be lucky to have some ash leftover." I finished for him. _It could be a ghost_, I wasn't going to rule it out yet, _but ghost don't remember how they die, and he seemed solid, like he was actually from our realm._ The realm of the living. Cy's scanners noticed him as well, but then again, Beast Boy could feel him as well, and that wasn't normal for him.

"So I figured out why my scanners were on the blink," Cy started.

"Why?" BB interrupted.

"Well, according to this, they were detecting a weird drop in the temperature in certain areas. Here I'll run a reply of the thermal scan on the screen." Cyborg said, walking over to the main computer and plugging a cord into his arm. As we watched, BB had pointed out to the spots the he had seen the air shimmers. It seemed to only be when he was certain animals, though he knew there was something there, no matter what animal he was.

"There, Cyborg, freeze that frame." Robin commanded, I knew he was thinking. Cy obeyed. "There, that bluish hue right behind X. He was there? Why didn't he stop him?"

"Maybe he was helping X?" I questioned, "But then again, when I tried to read its mind, all I could get was 'Jail,' so…"

"That doesn't help, we need to know why he is here, and if he is a threat. Raven, you are the supernatural expert. What do you think it is?" Robin asked.

"I'm not sure, I had a vague idea, but after what Starfire said, it immediately took away the classification I had thought of. I'll have to check some of my books, see if I can find anything." I answered in my usual monotone voice. I thought back to when I saw it, him, for the first time. Finally seeing what was radiating that strange feeling. It was human like, but there was that small glow coming from him. It was unlike anything I had seen before and I couldn't tell if it was his aura or just my imagination.

"Ok," Robin nodded, then turned, "Cy and Star, you guys keep going over the footage. If either of you guys find anything, contact me immediately."

"What about me?" BB asked.

"We are going to patrol the city." Robin said. I started to head to my room while everyone else went to do their assigned missions. I paused and looked back at the screen, it was paused on a full body shot of this mysterious figure as he floated behind X.

"What are you?" I questioned, talking to myself.

**Danny POV**

Ok, so I had my fun with being the hero, but now I really needed to stop using my ghost powers and try to be a regular teen while I hid out in the town for a few days. I didn't really need the money, Vlad and I set up a plan two years ago that if his ghost half was ever exposed or that something happened to him, all of his money would be transferred to an unknown (my) account and then the transfer would be deleted instantly afterwards, leaving no trace and me with more money than any 17 year old kid could ever need in a life time. However the more important thing was for find a place to stay at for the night.

I roamed the city for fifteen minutes before I found a small motel that was still open. _That will work for now._ I found and alley way nearby and changed back into my human form before walking out into the street and towards the front door of the motel. When I opened the front door, I realized the main lobby, if you could call it a lobby, was empty so I headed to the front desk. There was a small silver bell with a sign attached saying 'ring for service'. _Great._ So I did. DING! Nothing happened. I rang the bell again, DING! and waited for a minute. No reply still, so I rang the bell again, DING! this time waiting for a few minutes. I was getting fed up. _I'm tired, hungry, and been on the run for about a week and there is no one here to check me in!_ I decided to annoy the crap out of whoever was supposed to be working at this hour and rang the bell repeatedly like a four year old. Honestly I could keep this rapid pace up for a good few hours if I really wanted to.

"I HEAR THE BELL!" I heard someone, a very pissed off someone, yell from the other room. I grinned, _good to see I finally got someone's attention, about damn time._ A lady, probably about 5'3" and in her forties walked out, her face bright red with anger in her eyes and a scowl walked out into the open. "Are you the one ringing that damn bell? What the hell is wrong with you?" She growled at me.

"No, it was a ghost," Her eyes narrowed a little more, "he was here a second ago," her scowl deepened, "I donno where he went." I finished, acting innocent.

"Do you know what time it is?" she growled.

"Almost tomorrow?" I pretended to think, then darkening my expression as I continued, "Look lady, I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I have been on my own in the woods for about four days, so I would appreciate it if you could just give me a room to sleep in." I growled back, glaring at her. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, her eyes widening as she finally broke her failed attempt of a death stare from my face and noticed my attire.** (AN: The beginning of the motel scene is based off of two Gabriel Iglesias jokes.)**

"Uhh, yeah, sure. Name?" She asked, hesitantly, I could tell she was confused and possible afraid of me. Then again, with clothes that looked like they had been in a fire as well as on a guy as big as me, who wouldn't be afraid.

"Masters, James Masters." I answered back with a small smile. She just stared at me, raising an eyebrow, "What?" she just shook her head and continued writing in the book.

"And how long do you plan on staying?" She asked.

"Not sure yet. I'll let you know later, after I have a good night's rest and a proper meal."

"Okay, I have found an un-booked room for you, so, you are going to be located on the second floor, room 207." She said hesitantly, handing me a key before quickly walking to the back room.

"Thanks." I said, though she didn't hear it.

_This was going to be a long night_. I thought to myself as I unlocked the door to my room. I walked in and turned on the lights. It was a typical room with one bed and a bathroom, a desk, a small closet, and a dresser with an ancient TV on top. I was still wondering why the GIW agents would just leave like that, when they were so close to recapturing me, then just back off. It was strange, not that I didn't like it cause its awesome, but it just made me more afraid of when they strike next.

I walked into the bathroom to shower and clean myself off before bed. I looked at myself in the mirror and realized just how dreadful I looked. My hair was everywhere, I was covered in dirt, at least I hoped it was dirt, my clothes looked as if they were falling apart at the seams, and I had faint red marks from where the stupid ecto-lasers hit me along with dark circles under my eyes, my once electric blue eye color was a little faded, along with the fact that I looked really pale. Well, it could have been worse; I turned the shower on and waited for it to heat up. I needed a new pair of cloths to wear for tomorrow so I guess I would have to steal some for the night. No one would know, or see me on the cameras anyways. I took what was left of my clothes off and got in the shower, letting the warm water run over my body, relaxing my tense and knotted muscles, as well as calming down my nerves. I could feel the water rinsing away the dirt, sweat, and grime from running in the woods. After I was feeling better, I actually began to wash myself with the soap they provided. I probably took about ten minutes before I was done, got out and began to dry myself off. I wrapped the towel around my waist and looked in the foggy mirror. Thanks to my heighten senses that came with being a half ghost, I could clearly see all the scars that were unwillingly given to me by the GIW agents and all their, _tests_, as they would call them. They marked up my entire body; the most prominent being the one on my chest and stomach.

I shook my head, trying to get rid of those memories before realizing I didn't really have any clothes to wear. _Probably should have gotten some clothes before I showered. Smart move Fenton,_ I growled to myself mentally. I looked at the pile of dirty clothes on the bathroom floor, my pants weren't that bad, neither were my boxers, so I put those on, my t-shirt was destroyed, but the vest was okay. I put the vest on and walked into the main bedroom area. _Okay, I need to snatch a few pairs of boxers, some new jeans, a shirt or two for sure, I can make do without a vest, and maybe I should swipe some new shoes as well…_ I made a list on a blank sheet of paper, not using the note pad that had the motel emblem on it, and headed out.

I made myself invisible and intangible as I flew out of my room and towards the mall. I found a store, looked like a Macys or something along the lines of those giant stores that sells everything, and snagged what I needed easily. I was able to get the security ink ejectors off real easy by turning them intangible and placing them in their spots under the register. I made sure to keep everything that I was doing invisible. Of course, I couldn't really steal the items, so I pulled out my wallet, and paid for the items along with the list I had made before I left for the motel, writing what I had taken next to the register in aisle one.

I was surprised that I made it back to the motel without getting lost. I found my room and placed my spoils on the only bed in the room. I pulled off all the tags and put them in the trash, opened the 5 pack bag of boxers, and then placed everything in the dresser, except the new shoes. Those I placed next to the dresser on the left side. I yawned, stretched, then took off my old jeans, vest and boxers, throwing them into the trash along with my T-shirt that was still in the bathroom, and put on one of the new pair of boxers, glancing at the clock as its numbers changed to 1:28 a.m. and went to bed for some much needed sleep.

I woke to the growling of my stomach. I rolled over to face the clock. I blinked a few times before I could read it semi-clearly, 2:47 p.m. so just over thirteen hours of sleep. _More than I've had for the past week, and no nightmare either, damn, I must have been tired._ I smiled to myself as I stretched, and sat up looking around the room waiting for my vision finished focusing. I finally got bored just staring into space and got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Once I was done, I put on some of the new cloths I bought/stole. What? I did leave a note and the right amount of cash in the store at the register. I then went to fixed tangled mess that I called my hair. I looked around in the bathroom for a brush, but to no avail, so I just finger combed it and when it was decent enough to go out in public with, I left the room, unsure of what I was going to do with the small amount of time I had left in the day.

I exited the lobby and headed down the street, making notes of where I was and who I was walking by, you know, keeping tabs on everything that I saw, I knew the GIW were going to come back. I walked around the park for a little while, trying to think of a way to throw the GIW thru a loop when a familiar phrase rang thru the air.

"Time out." _Clockwork_._ Of course._ Time stopped, like it always does when he interferes.

"Hello Clockwork." I dully greeted.

"Daniel, I see you are planning to leave, even after what I told you a week ago." He started.

"Yeah I would stay like you said, but _they_ are still on my tail, I'll come back once I lose them, then try to befriend these _Hero's_." I interrupted, "I have to, it's way too risky to stay here while they still know where I am."

"You would think that, but its imperative that you stay here. If you leave, _he_ will come back. I told the Observers that I would keep _him_ locked up, I can't do that if you chose another path that brings him back." Clockwork explained. I stared at him, wide eyed. _He will come back if I leave the city! No! He can't, I can't let him,_ I sighed, _Guess I'm staying here after all._ The full meaning of what he said hit me.

"Wait, I thought I already beat him. How could he come back? He is still in your layer, in the thermos, right?" I asked, I was very confused.

"Yes. _That_ Dan in back in the ghost zone, but this is a new Dan," he explained, pointing to my chest, " and he is still apart of you. He will fully manifest, without Plasmius half, and become a reality in this timeline if you leave the city due to a nasty series of events, which is why I'm here."

I sighed, hanging my head in defeat, "Guess I have to stay after all, huh? If I want to avoid him again. Great future. Thanks."

"I know, it is for the best."

"So if I stay, he won't exist, right?" I questioned.

"Only time will tell," he said, "Time in!" and he disappeared into the blue portal behind him, time continuing to move forward. I let out a sigh, _Clockwork hasn't led me the wrong way so I was going to take his advice. Even if I didn't want to,_ I realized what that meant, _great, now I have to get a job and a real place to live_. I visited a few places but none were hiring at the moment. I sighed exiting the park and walked down the street for a little while, passing a help wanted sign along the way. I stopped and looked at the building that was hiring. It was that small coffee shop I passed by yesterday when I was running away from the GIW. I growled. The GIW, every time they were even hinted at, I filled with rage. _How could they do that! They just decided that… calm down, breath. In. Out. In. Out. There all better._ But I knew I wasn't. I sighed as walked up to a creepy looking coffee shop._ Oh well._ I opened the door and walked up to the counter.

"Hi, I noticed the sign out front about needing help and wanted to know if you were still hiring." I asked or told, not really sounding enthusiastic about the idea at all. I tried to plaster a smile, but that didn't work out so well seeing as it made me seemed to just make me look like a creeper. So instead, I dropped the smile and kept a straight face and waited for the guy on the other end of the counter to respond.

"Uhh..." the dude responded eyeing me, apparently he wasn't expecting me to show up; I mean I didn't give off the normal vibe that this place usually gave, or any place for that matter. He just stared at me for a while. _Oh for the love of all things dead, please stop staring! This day has already started off on the bad note and I would really just like an answer instead of just standing here like an idiot,_ I mentally whined. I quickly put together a cover story for why I was here.

"Look, you don't even have to pay me minimum wage, I'll do it for free if you really want me to. I need the hours for school anyways." I lied, though it wasn't all a lie, I needed the hours to look as if I was a regular teenager, but I didn't need the money. The guys face light up instantly as I said this. _That could have gone better._

"You're hired. My name is Tom, and you are?" He asked.

"Uh, James." I managed to get out, to be honest I was very confused, _isn't there suppose to be like an interview and paperwork, and doesn't he want to know that I am who I say I am?_ My thoughts were cut short when a black apron landed on my face, I pulled it off looking at Tom who raised an eyebrow, put it on while Tom began to fill me in on what to do, showing me how to make the different drinks and the difference between the cold and hot, how to make ice coffees and such. He also gave me the run down on the food items and how each should be prepared along with restocking the cold drinks on the shelves around every hour or so. I put the apron on and began to get to work, learning and working out the kinks on how to make all the different blends of drinks and how to cook some of the food items that they served. _It was going to be a long night, that's for sure._ I'm sure I messed up at least five or more different orders, but being my first day, I didn't feel too bad about it, yet.

I was on my break when I got a sudden chill and a blue wisp came out of my mouth. _Ah crap!_ I began searching the shop for the ghost when I heard a familiar barking sound coming from my feet. I looked down.

"Cujo!" I whispered excitedly, "What are you doing here boy?" the ghostly green puppy jumped up on my lap and began to lick my face while its stub of a tail wagged vigorously.

"James! Break time's over!" called my boss.

"Ok!" I shouted back, then quietly whispering to my puppy, "Go to my motel room, ok? Follow my trail." And with that I knew I would see him at my motel room tonight. _Crisis averted, for now at least._ I mentally sighed and went back to work.

My shift was finally over, but I still had to find a more permanent place to live; thanks to Clockwork's words that were still running thru my head, and one that allowed dogs, because a motel wasn't going to cut it. I was going to find some place cheap as to not draw attention to myself. A place near the middle of the city, close enough to be invisible to the suspecting and searching eye, yet far enough away that it wouldn't get destroyed by the fights the occur downtown on a regular basis from the Teen Titan's. Which reminds me, _where did they disappear to?_ I saw an orange ship thing shoot off into space five hours ago from their base, tower, whatever you want to call it. It was a giant T-shaped building on an island in the bay and it basically overlooked the city. I noted that when I was flying to find a hotel a last night.

I walked by a house that was for sale on my way back to the motel, grabbing a flier, I was going to call the seller to set up an appointment to take a tour of the house. It was a small, tan house with white trim and well crafted front door that was painted a warm cocoa brown. It's a one story with a small basement, _perfect, I can use the basement as a lab if the GIW agents don't find me and for now, a place for Cujo to stay._ It also had an open concept, the living room and the kitchen were open and great for entertaining, _as if I would have people over, but it's good for watching Cujo I guess. _The two bedrooms were located on the opposite side of the house, perfect for guest so they don't feel as if we are living on top of one another, and if Danielle ever finds me, she can live in that room. Two separate full baths, the second being near guest room. It had a small walk in closet, nothing to fancy, but good amount of space, according to the flier. All in all, this house would work for my current situation.

* * *

**Three Days Later**

* * *

I was finally finished moving into my new house, though waiting for the offer to pass drove me crazy. Well, I'm already crazy but you know what I mean, so in order to take my mind off of that, I had gotten myself a Motorcycle, and I loved riding it. It was like flying while I was still on the ground. It was a Yamaha YZF-R6, black with the silver seats and neon green accents around the cowl. Parking is impossible in this city, hence why I wanted a bike. But I didn't stop there, I had also custom ordered a bad ass helmet as well. It was a Bell Revolver helmet, black matte paint, with silver accents and a green chrome visor. It just arrived today, I had ordered it when I bought the bike. Dare I say, _amazing!_

I got out of bed, Cujo lying peacefully on his spot on my bed. I groaned, knowing that I needed to go shopping for more things, food being the main one, but clothes, and dog necessities for Cujo. Plus, I wouldn't mind splurging a little on myself. Nah, I shouldn't, but I most likely would anyways.

I left the house at 8:30 and walked to the coffee shop. It was normally a four mile walk from my house to the coffee shop, a small warm up compared to my normal training routine; I would have to resume my regular workout soon so I wouldn't get out of shape, or lose more control over the little sanity that I still had left. But today, I was going to ride my bike there now that I had my helmet, I grabbed two protein bars on my way to work from a gas station nearby so I wouldn't have an empty stomach during my busy day. I arrived, taking off my helmet and began to enter the shop. I pulled out my sunglasses from the pocket in my jacket and put them on before entering. Serving coffee was just as boring as ever, though because it was like some form of gothic café, my poor outlook in life and sour attitude was welcomed with open arms by the people that usually came in to get their items. _If Sam was here, she would love this place. This is totally up her alley, _I thought as I waited for someone's bagel to warm up in the toaster. Sighing when it was done, I handed them the food and walked back to the register so they could pay, then moped around some more, waiting for my shift to be over so I could go shopping.

I couldn't have been happier when 2 o'clock came around; I left the shop and went to the nearby fast food chain for lunch. I rarely take off my sunglasses but I did anyways, besides, no one here would recognize me as 'Danny Fenton' anyways, not to mention the place was practically empty, not counting the people behind the counter, there were only three other people, two that were getting ready to leave. I lifted my shades and let them rest on the top of my head as I began to order. The door opened and closed, twice? I looked around, _the other person was still here, so why…_ I was interrupted by an all too familiar clicking sound, two guys dressed in all black had pulled out guns. _Luck me_, I groaned, the two thugs decided to rob the place as I was ordering. One was almost my height, 6'2" or 6'3" while the other was more like 5'11" both were armed with guns, and had ski masks on along with similar black attire to match the rest of their bodies. They both looked a little out of shape, judging from the small pudge in their bellies showing under their black sweatshirts. The shorter of the two pointed the gun at me and ordered me down to the ground, then threatened to shoot me if I didn't stay there. I got down on the floor like he demanded, while they pointed their guns at the cashier, demanding for all the cash in the register. _Don't help, don't help, don't help!_ I shouted to myself, trying to keep my hero complex from taking over and beating the shit out of the two robbers. _Stay down, stay down, stay down! _I failed to shout at myself while standing up and faced the two guys with a very angry expression on my face._ Damn it!_

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Get back down on the ground, NOW!" The shorter of the two shouted, pointing his gun at me. I rolled my eyes, they landed on the last person in the room, pausing for a second giving a slight nod to him, hoping that he would pick up on my unspoken thoughts and call the police. Now I just need to give him a chance to do so, without warning, I swung my left leg up and around, hitting the back of his right hand, knocking the gun out and on the floor before putting him in an arm lock, my right hand grabbing the back of his head and pulling it down towards my rising knee. I felt the impact and the crushing of his nose before I saw the fountain of blood that began to flow from his face. _Oops, too hard._ I then finished him with a quick jab to the side of his neck, knocking him out cold before turning my attention to the other guy, who didn't know what to do, a clear hint of fear in his eyes. The other civilian got the hidden message, I smiled as I eavesdropped on his phone conversation, the voice on the phone saying that the cops were on their way. I started walking to the other armed robber.

"One more step and I'll shoot." He attempted to threaten, his voice shaking a little in some places. I decided to have some fun with him, my insanity taking control, I knew that he couldn't really kill me, I let out a roar of laughter.

"I don't think you will. You don't want murder on your hands now do you?" I questioned back, giving a large and very scary smile as I took another step forward. I needed to keep him occupied long enough for the cops to show up and arrest these two thugs.

"I mean it, stop moving!" he replied, taking a step back. I gave him one of my all too famous death stares, and I had to admit that if looks could kill, well, this stare came pretty close to proving that saying true. I saw him tense up before he started to shake nervously, his eyes widening behind his mask, I could hear his heart racing as he was trying to figure out what to do. I was about to take another step when I heard the sirens.

"Sounds like the poe-poe are here. It sucks to be you doesn't it?" I smiled again knowing that I won, temporarily forgetting that him being nervous as hell causing him to do the unexpected. He fired. I stumbled backwards before falling to the floor, while the girl behind the counter screamed. He hit me in the left shoulder, nowhere fatal, but it still hurt. I didn't cry out in pain, but just clutched my shoulder with my other hand, icing it with my icy core and waited for my ghostly healing to kick in. The robber looked traumatized at what just happened, as if his brain was still trying to process the information of the last few seconds. Rage started to take its hold over me, _He shot me! He seriously just shot me! I'm gonna kill him! _I tried to push it back, taking everything I had to not get up and brutally kill the guy, though I knew how much I would like too. That _monster _inside me desperately wanted too, I was sure my eyes flickered to a reddish color multiple times as I imagined just how it would turn out. The cops came bursting thru the door at that moment. Guns clicked as they ordered the remaining robber to stand down while another called for an ambulance to take me to a hospital. The word hospital seized my attention immediately. _Great, just great. First, I don't get lunch, then I nearly lose it, now I have to try to get out of the ambulance without them drawing my blood and finding the ectoplasm covered DNA in my system along with the fact they my body doesn't function like any other normal humans would! This day just couldn't get any better could it?_

"Hey, kid," one of the cops said, trying to comfort me, "It's going to be okay, the ambulance is on its way."

I only groaned, I knew that wasn't good, fortunately for me, the mobile hospital arrived a few minutes later and my healing hadn't taken effect yet. Because it was a clean shot, they just patched up my shoulder and told me to take it easy for a few weeks to let my arm heal. No blood samples, and thank the Lord of Death, no needles. I was, however, required to talk to the cops about the unconscious robber on the floor and what had taken place prior to the robbery. _This better not be in the news, or I'm so screwed._ I thought. That was all I needed was for the GIW and my former parents to come and swarm the city because of this incident. _Damn it! You stupid hero complex! Why do you always intervene in situations like this?_ I explained how they busted into the shop, guns blazing and all, the threats they made, how I was able to take out the short guy, what I did to the short guy, and the 'mind game' I played with the other robber. I didn't want the cops to release my name to the reporters about me so I told them no. When they asked if I had any family, I lied and said no. Though my real parents are alive, I don't consider them to be parents, not after what they did to me.

The reporters were showing up so I decided now was a great time to leave. There were no camera's out of there vans yet, so I turned myself invisible and walked away without an incident, and because I'm not 18, they can't say my name of give a description of me without my consent. _Thank you for the minors secrecy act!_ I hopped on my bike riding it back to my house, turning me and the bike invisible, and phasing thru the garage door before becoming visible again. I went to my room and changed my shirt and vest, as well as talking off my so called bandages seeing the I was completely healed, before putting on a graphic tee and a black leather jacket before I went shopping, because now I needed new clothes. I changed then headed to the mall to do some serious shopping.

Totally a bad idea.

So shopping by myself wasn't my best move, I mean, sure I know how to shop _thank you Sam and Jazz,_ but I swear every girl at the damn place was following me around like I was a new toy. Since when did 'James Masters' have a fan club. He doesn't even exist! Technically speaking. Not to mention a few tried to ask me out! I can't, not yet, it's too soon. I lost the love of my life a few years ago, and I should be getting over it, but I can't. I couldn't save her, and it kills me every day knowing that I couldn't protect her, or any of them from their cruel and untimely deaths.

Okay, so being a ghost, or rather half ghost, means I or at least part of me has an obsession or a calling, meaning there is something I always feel like I have to do, even in my human form, unfortunately it is saving and protection people though it could have been something worse. I'm sure I developed this when saving Sam from the Lunch Lady ghost and that's where I developed my obsession, from protecting and saving Sam that one time. As to my partial insanity, well I'm still working on a theory for that one.

I eventually got to the point where I just needed to get away from them, so turning myself invisible and phasing thru the wall just to get away from them, I wasn't fond of the idea but I didn't like the feeling of being followed. I did manage to get most of the things I needed now that I actually have my own place to live. I got a new wardrobe, full of vest, muscle and v-neck t-shirts, lots of different colored jeans and shorts, five new pairs of shoes, and a few leather jackets. I had to duplicate myself just to get everything home seeing that taking my bike wouldn't work. _Man! That was tiring; I should really get a car. Well, I do have all this money. NO! I need to stay inconspicuous, that means not blowing all of _dad's_ money just because I can. But a car would be so practical for these kinds of things. _During my mental struggle, I had managed to send my invisible clones to my house and back, at least three of them, to drop off all the clothing items I had bought for myself. I sighed, _now off to the pet store for Cujo._ I began walking around to look for a pet store. The scream attracted my attention, and because of my stupid complex, I had to go check it out. My ghost sense went off as I began to get closer. _Fuck! Of all times a ghost decided to attack it has to be now!_ I mentally cursed because now I had to intervene; the Titan's still weren't back from where ever the hell they went and I had to risk my safety and mental health just to save a few people. _What kind of hero just leaves their town unprotected for a few days? Don't these kids know that when they leave villains always attack, and now I'm stuck cleaning up their mess! Granted they wouldn't and probably didn't know how to fight a ghost in the first place but I would love to see them try._

"Will you be my friend?" and eerie pleading and whine-like voice shouted, cutting thru the screams of people and my ranting thoughts. I face palmed, recognizing the ghost instantly; he was blue skinned, with pink and white pinstriped pajamas and blond hair. _Really? Klemper! He's here? Well, it could have been the box ghost._ I sighed, hiding behind fast-food counter; I changed into my ghost half and flew out to face the friendless ice ghost.

"Klemper, it's impossible to make friends if you are scaring them half to death." I shouted, keeping my voice eerie and echoy over the crowds of scared and screaming people. Everyone had stopped to look at me and the Klemper floating in the air. The icy blue skinned ghost turned to me with a dazed look.

"Will you be my friend?" He hopefully asked again. I shook my head in frustration, then realized that he couldn't see my head or face, I had to answer his question.

"No, I don't want to make any new friends, and I really don't feel like fighting you off today either. So, we can we do this the easy way and just get in the thermos or are you going to be difficult?" I stated. My words began to seep into the ghosts understanding, and he got angry. He roared before charging at me with a snow ball in his left fist, and swung it at my head.

"I guess we are doing this the hard way." I deadpanned under my breath, ducking his punch and sending my own punch, charged with and ecto-blast into his back, and sending him to the ground. He was unmoving for a second then began to stir, and fired an ice beam at me. I rolled my eyes under my hood and absorbed the blast with my own icy energy. He flew at me again trying to tackle me this time. I went intangible, turned, grabbed the back of his pj's and threw him to the ground again. Pulling out my thermos, I sucked him up and sighed. The crowd that had stayed to watch was gasping at me, surprised that I took out the strange entity, single-handed and within a few seconds. Slowly they began to murmur then cheer, I could make out some of the whispers, mostly who was I, where did I come from, was I a Titan, ect. I groaned, _this is so not how I planned my day to go._

"No, I'm not a Titan. I'm no one important." Was all I said before vanishing from their view. Invisibly, I flew back over to the counter I transformed behind, returned to my human self and continued walking towards the pet store as if nothing had ever happened. The rumors continued to spread about the cool looking dude that saved the citizens in the mall. _This is so going to come back to bite me later._ I thought to myself as I continued to walk down the aisles of the store, placing a few toys and dog treats in the shopping cart, along with a bag of food and a dog house and bed for Cujo. I tried to ignore the quickly spreading rumors, but it was becoming really difficult to do. I got in line and paid for the items after waiting a few minutes. _Crap, how am I supposed to carry all of this back to the house? I guess I'm duplicating myself again._ I groaned again, creating an invisible copy of myself, and keeping it invisible, I handed it the dog food and dog house instructing it to fly to my house and drop the items off before coming back to get me. A few minutes later, the duplicate came back, turning me invisible, and flew me to my house as well so I could drop off the rest of the items. _I guess I have to get a car to transport my merchandise, otherwise my ghost powers will draw _them_ back to the city!_ I continued this mental battle for a minute or two before I realized that unless I wanted to keep using my ghost powers and attract the attention of the GIW sooner, I had to buy a car.

I walked around town for a little bit, trying to learn my way without a map. I hated maps, unless they have the "you are here" sticker on it, I could care less. Eventually I had a general idea about how to get around when I was in downtown Jump. I walked by an electronics store and decided to enter, just for pure entertainment. I walked around for a few minutes, looking at all the different gadgets such as phones, PDA's, laptops, video games and gaming consoles, along with some of the larger things such as household appliances and TV monitors. I ended up buying a few things from there as well and walked out of the store with a new laptop, a smart phone, and a few games, including the newest edition of Doom. To say I was set would be an understatement, but I reminded myself to not let all the wealth to get to my head like the first time, I needed to stay down to earth as much as I possibly can.

I made it home later than I had planned due to _unforeseen_ events, but I got everything I needed from the clothing stores, a few items for Cujo, and a few material items for myself and was home around 9. _Finally, I can eat something. Awh crap! I didn't go to the supermarket for food! Well I guess I'm getting takeout, again._ I groaned to myself before dialing the number to the pizza joint I had written down earlier from the magazine I read while on my break at work. While I waited, I pulled out the laptop and logged on to a neighbor's Wi-Fi for the night, I would need to get a router to create my own Wi-Fi for later. I cruised around on the web, mostly car searching so I could get around the town without having to use my powers. I sighed, dreading the fact that I would have to deal with the ever so perky car sales people just to get my stupid vehicle.

The doorbell rang half an hour later, delivering my half meat half veggie pizza. I paid the delivery boy and feeling generous, tipped him a ten, before I began my car search again while eating a few slices of the pizza. I knew I should have done my normal workout routine today but running from those girls the entire day was good enough, _crap, now I will have a fan club,_ not to mention I was shot an hour before that, so I deserved a rest (even though I was completely healed, I was going to pretend I wasn't). Cujo, in his puppy form, was curled up next to me on the couch, sleeping with his new toy hanging out of his mouth. After I had decided on the car I was going to buy, I changed into my boxers and went to bed after setting my phone's alarm to wake me up at 6 so I could go for my usual morning run.

Six a.m. came way to fast, but no nightmare. That was a plus, I got up and changed into my usual workout clothes and phased thru my bedroom wall for my usual run. It wasn't cold out, but I wasn't hot either, more like 65 degrees, for me that was perfect. As I ran, I made it a point to learn every street name and where everything was, that way I could never get lost. I happened to be running by a bank when so idiot in a white suit white some black lines and a yellow bulb on his head and chest was breaking into the ATM machines. _What is he suppose to be, a light bulb? He's not very discreet with his outfit glowing like that._ I sighed, knowing that I couldn't just walk away, or in this case, run by and not do anything to stop him, I mean he was stealing. _Where are the cops, or the Titans for that matter? They have been gone for at least four days! And why me? Why can't I for once just live someplace that doesn't need to be saved? _I cursed at myself and ran to a nearby dumpster, changed into my ghost form then turned invisible before I went to face the light bulb guy.

"You know," I started with my scary voice, scaring the crap out of the ridiculously dressed fruit loop, "If you want to make a withdrawal, you should open an account first."

"What! Who's there?" He asked, turning around to face my invisible self.

"That's not important, not as important as to _who_ you are?" I shot back becoming visible and hoping this loser would give me a name.

He jumped a foot before straightened up and shouting, "I am Dr. Light, and you are nothing compared to the power of the light!" I sighed as I deadpanned, _great; he is just like Technus, only he's a human not a ghost. Wonderful._

"Really, the 'All Powerful Light' can vanquish the Specter of Death himself?" I teased, tilting my head just enough so that he could see the movement of my hood. His face paled considerably at my statement, and I let out a deep chuckle. "I didn't think so." If I had a camera, this would be all over the internet. But oh well, I'll just have to settle with my memory.

"Y-y-you're the a-actual re-re-reap-per?" He stuttered. I wanted to create some of my own entertainment now, like my insanity like humor of terrorizing this guy. _I'm so cruel, but this is going to be so good,_ I slowly reached to the back of my belt, and grabbed the list containing all the names of ghost I still needed to take care of, and unrolled it in front of me while giving him the idea that his name was on the list. I tapped into my icy core at the same time and created a mist or fog like affect, and then I made sure it spread outwards in every direction, slowly, before I replied to the terrified Dr. Light.

"The one and only Grim Reaper. Yes, but, I prefer to be called, Pale Death." I answered still looking at the fake list of names, letting out another sinister laugh as I summoned my Scythe with the other hand. If he wasn't terrified before, he was now. I could have sworn he was going to pee his pants at the sight of my weapon. My scythe had that effect on people; the eerie glow of the neon green blade, the dry ice effect that it gave off, it was enough to petrify people. And it was working, like it always does. I gave a sinister chuckle.

"Please don't kill me! I don't want to die! I'm not ready to die yet, I'm way too young!" he pleaded, dropping to the ground, shaking with tears streaming down his pale face.

"Hmm, your name doesn't appear on the list, yet, so I won't kill you," I started.

He looked up in disbelief, tears in his eyes, before he whispered "Y-you won't?"

"But you must put all the money back, turn yourself in to the police, and stay in jail for your full sentence given to you by the judge." I said, using a haunted, monotone voice while rolling the map up and placing in it back in its home at the back of my belt.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." He whispered again, tears still streaming down his smiling face.

"Do it, now! Before I change my mind and kill you anyways!" I growled, smiling when he flinched back in fear.

"Ok, I'm doing that right now." He said, trying to kiss up to me and lighten his punishment. I hate kiss-asses, I was going to make sure he did and that he would never want to cross my path again.

"Remember, I will know if you try to cheat your way out of this." I warned before disappearing. I laughed once more, watching his face becoming paler than the white on his suit, before I was gone. I couldn't wait to read the headline for this guys' crazed up story in the paper as everyone is not going to believe that the actual reaper appeared and let him off with a warning. I shifted back to my human form behind the same dumpster and finished my run laughing like a mental patient at an asylum for the mentally insane.

**GIW POV**

"Agent K, we have a second confirmed ecto-reading of a very powerful ghost emanating from Jump city. Do we have permission to launch an investigation?" Asked a younger agent, who was currently monitoring a screen with numerous amounts of ecto data pouring into the open file.

"How high of a reading?" Agent K answered, walking over to the screen to examine the readings himself.

"Level 15 or higher. There was two smaller readings as well. This scanner isn't as fine tuned as the others back at the main HQ. Do you think I could be the Ghost Boy?"

"Quite possible. We shall inform the Fenton's of the findings a dispatch a watch team to investigate." Answered Agent K, motioning for Agent O to alert the new owners of the GIW agency of their new-found discovery. He smirked as his mind was already planning a search and capture mission, the trip itself was going to take a day's worth of travel, but it would be well worth it. They may have been ordered to pull back when the boy first entered the city because of the Titans. The Titans had left the city recently, so now was the perfect time to investigate, when they weren't here to interrupt, and this time, oh yes, this time that ghost punk wasn't getting away.

* * *

**And cut! So how did I do this time? And crud, the GIW are on to him!**

**Did anyone laugh at the "checking in" motel scene? Sorry, I love that guy, he's hilarious, I couldn't help myself.**

**So until next time...**


	3. Settling In part 2

**Sorry for the wait! I was having issues trying to plot out this chapter. I think I rewrote it like five time just to get it right.**

**I would also like to say thank you to all of you that have reviewed! **

**And here is the next chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Danny POV**

I was still laughing in my head over the idiot from this morning, what was his name, oh yeah, Dr. Light. _Haha, that guy is like a human version of Technus! Ah, good old Technus, haven't seen him in a while, I guess its for the best seeing as I would be back in the hands of the GIW or worse, my parents._ I shake off the thought as I got ready for bed. I drifted to sleep, slowly letting the soothing feeling of sleep take hold; my mind began to send images my way, eventually forming one of my usual nightmares…

_I had to get there, I had to. I had less than a minute. That's what they told me at least, a minute to try and save them. He was malfunctioning, and they had lost control of it. A hallway, that's what I was running down now, running as fast as I could but I still seemed to move at a snail's pace. _Why can't I move any faster!_ I could see them, and me, in the large viewing window similar a movie theater sized screen, that never seemed to get closer. In the window, I could see everything, they were tied up, and on the ground, gagged and each of them sporting bruises from beatings._ NO! How could they! How could they do that to innocent teenagers!_ I screamed to myself.__ I tried to fly instead of run, thinking it would be faster but the same results, I got nowhere. People where in the hallway, laughing at me, mocking me as I ran by, tears beginning to form. I couldn't let them win, I just couldn't. Agents, my Parents, Dan. All in the hallway, every time I passed their group, they would reappear a few feet in front of me again._

_ "You can't save them. You can't save anyone." A voice teased, the white agents were stepping out of my way as I continued down the hall, "You can't even save yourself!"_

_They continued their teasing, laughing, and pointing while the windows I ran by each had images of future horrors that would become of me afterwards. The experiments of pure pain, testings of new weapons, and even worse horrors that I couldn't even begin to describe, trying not to look into the windows __as I ran by_. I watched helplessly as I continued running towards them; he was walking towards them, smiling while they just sat there, frozen, unable to move because of their bindings, and afraid of what he could and would do. He fiddled with his belt, and even being as far away as I was, I could still see the fear that had come across their faces. The last thing I would see as a light flashed from a reflective surface, then a red liquid splattered against the window while muffled screams could be heard as they filled the dead air.

_ "NOOOO!"_

I awoke with a scream, sitting upright in my bed, cold sweat sticking to my body and the sheets, by breathing uneven and painting like, my eyes scanning the room for any danger or threat.

"Just a dream, just a dream." I repeated to myself, closing my eyes while trying to calm myself down and regulate my breathing. I felt the bed move slightly along with the muffled sounds of feet coming closer to my left side, Cujo, was sitting next to me now, whimpering. I opened my eyes and looked down into the sad eyes of the little ghost puppy, rubbing his head as I spoke, "It's ok boy, nothing to be afraid of. I just had a bad dream." _More like reliving my messed up life, nothing says home like a good old nightmare to welcome you back._

I took my eyes off of him a looked at the clock, _only 4:30? Hmm, I might as well get up, I don't think I'll get any more sleep anyways._ I looked back to my puppy, smiling, and continued to pet him some more. I needed to burn off some of my energy and post-nightmare jitters, _a nice long run should do the trick, and at 4:30, no one would be out so I would take Cujo with me._ He would love to get out, plus he needed the exercise anyways.

"Hey boy, want to go for a run?" I called, pulling out his special leash. It was similar to the Fenton fishing line, but made by Vlad so fifty times stronger. He jumped around excitedly as I tried to tie the leash on to him. I finally managed to get it on Cujo after five minutes, and we headed out. The run was nice, I was able to clear my head and get rid of the stress I was feeling from the past week and a half. I was about 6:15 by the time we got home. Cujo downed three giant bowls of water, while I finished my normal morning workout. By then it was 7:23, so I headed to the fridge, only to find it completely bare of anything editable._ Okay. Guess I'm not eating breakfast. Note to self, go grocery shopping after work._ I mentally told myself, heading off to shower instead. The warm water soothed my muscles and calmed me down a little, but not much, I still was always looking over my shoulder for _them_, and constantly worrying about being found. I still remember the day I told my parents, former parents, the truth, mostly because I needed their help to free Sam, Tucker, and Jazz from the GIW who kidnapped them just to capture me.

_Beginning of Flashback_

_ "MOM! DAD! I need your help!" I cried as I ran thru the front door to our house, panting and out of breath from running almost three miles at an Olympian pace. I needed their help, they took them, my friend, my sister, my girlfriend! I heard them come running up from the lab and thru the kitchen, both in their iconic hazamat suits. My moms, a teal color with black gloves, boots, belt, and collar, while my dad's was exactly the same, only orange instead of teal._

_ "What is the matter, sweetie?" My mom asked, a little concerned. I guess I should have known something was up by the way they were eyeing me, that and they were never really concerned when I needed help. Looking back now I realized that I never should have told them about me, or even gone home for that matter. But what's done is done, and I can't fix it now._

_ "It's Sam, Tucker, and Jazz." I panted, still a little short on breath, "The guys in white kidnapped them in order to catch the ghost boy."_

_ "What are you talking about? And how do you know why they kidnapped them?" My mom replied, slowly reaching for an ecto-gun, which again I should have noticed but stupid me I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Look where it's gotten me so far._

_ "The GIW, they took them, and want to capture the ghost boy. And, well, it's hard to explain, but I know because, well because I am the ghost kid. But they threatened to hurt them if I didn't come forward and let them take me away." I finished, nervous as hell because I was afraid of my parents reactions towards me being a ghost, well a half ghost, but same difference. And I was right, but I decided to ignore my conscious at the time, gold star for me. I saw the confused faces on them and I figured I would transform for them. Of course I was still ignoring the fact that they were slowly drawing ecto-weapons to use on me. I let the blue rings form at my waist and watched as they split, one going up and one going down, traveling across my body and changing my appearance from Danny Fenton, to Danny Phantom. Their faces were not shocked, not surprised, but like they were waiting for it, as if they knew the whole time, then quickly changed to rage and hatred. I didn't even see the first blast until I was on the floor with an ecto-bazooka pointed at my chest and my father looming over me._

_ "Don't move, or I'll pull the trigger, ghost scum!" threatened my dad as he shoved the weapon deeper into my ribs._

_ "What are you doing! It's me, Danny, your son!" I pleaded, I was terrified and almost crying, they were attacking me, their own son. My thoughts were cut short when my mom began to talk._

_ "Like we don't know that Sam, Tucker, and Jazz are with the GIW. They told us that they were planning a trap for the Ghost Boy, and we have a live video feed from their safety room. You are not Danny! He is with them as well." My mom sneered, triumph in her voice, before pulling out a screen that showed Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and me? all in a room. _I was in the room with them. It's not possible, I'm here, I've never seen that room either so how… No! They didn't!_ A light bulb had turned on, and __I knew exactly what was going on and who the other _me_ was_.

_"It's a clone, the Danny in that GIW control is a clone, I'm the real Danny I can prove it I swear ask me any question and I can answer it truthfully! I'm not-" I was cut off by my mom as she shoved a different weapon in my throat, effectively cutting off my air supply and stopping me from pleading, tears streaming down my cheeks from the physical, mental, and emotional pain being caused by them._

_End of Flashback_

I cut the memory off there as I got out of the shower. I forced myself to not cry at the pain that was eating me away at their betrayal. I was their son, _their son_, and they threw me away because I was part ghost. Ghosts, something that they have hated all their lives spending years researching, hunting, and experimenting, and now I am a part of that classification. I forced the thoughts out of my head, walking to my room and putting on some clean clothes for work. I grabbed a black shirt, v-necked, it was all I owned, that or muscle shirts. I threw on some light gray jeans, black sneakers, and a white leather jacket, which was embroidered with a black, silver, and gold pattern down the right side. I decided to add my silver aviators to the mix before heading out the door, walking, mostly because I would be a hazard on the road in this state. The memories started up again pushing through my mental shield as if it was a piece of paper.

_Beginning of Flashback_

_ I got away, barely, but I got away from the monsters I would now call my parents. I managed to phase thru the floor and out of the house before starting to fly towards the GIW facility, hoping for my spur of the moment escape plan would work. Though I highly doubted it would._

_ It took about ten minutes flying to reach the facility, but due to it being underground, it took more like an hour. I followed a helicopter thru the landing doors, keeping myself invisible and intangible, praying to a god that they didn't have ecto-readers and scanners, otherwise I was screwed. They did. I transformed back into my human form and stole a white suit and put it on, then found a trainee badge and walked like I had a purpose. My luck held as I rounded the second corner, the ecto-scanners and ecto-readers couldn't pick up my ecto-plasmic energy when I was in my human form or they weren't on. I should have realized something was wrong right then and there, but I didn't. Some guard recognized me and began to follow me and I picked up my pace. He, however, wasn't aware of the plan and took me to the holding bunker where my friends and my clone was. He threw me into the room and closed the door without looking in. _So far, so good._ I remember thinking as I landed on the floor._

_ "Danny?" I heard my sister asked. I looked up to see Jazz, her eyes full of confusion and bewilderment that I was just thrown into the room. I saw this and immediately began to scan the room for the other me. When I found him I pounced._

_ "Get away from my friends!" I growled as I pinned it to the ground. Tucker and Sam were now in shock, not moving at the sight of two of me in the room. "This one is a clone."_

_ "Danny? If that's true, then how did you get in here? You didn't surrender, did you?" Sam finally said, worry and confusion. Jazz cut in._

_ "What about Mom and Dad? Do they know?" She asked. I didn't answer, I couldn't, it was too painful, I could feel the tears forming in my eyes, then, _it_ spoke._

_ "Oh, they know, but they didn't care, did they." The clone said, smirking, "Let me guess, you told them that we kidnapped your friends and that if you didn't turn yourself over, you would never see them again?"_

_ "Danny, what is he talking about?" Jazz interrupted._

_ "It doesn't matt-"_

_ "Yes, yes it does. They turned on you didn't they? They attacked you thinking that the real Daniel was here, under our protection, the entire time. They even came up with the idea, hiding us away here so that you would try to help your friends when really, you were falling into a trap. Our trap." It interrupted._

_ "What is he talking about? Danny, what happened?" Sam and Jazz asked, uneasiness filling their tone. I couldn't stop the tears as they flowed down my face like a river. I was trying to stop, but it hurt, it hurt too much. I landed on the floor next to the clone when he pushed me off._

_ "I can tell you what happened." It continued to smirk as it stood up, "Danny here told his secret to mom and dad so that they would help you break out, but they turned on him, seeing him as the ghost boy pretending to be their son the entire time and attacked. Didn't they? They attacked you as if you didn't matter to them anymore."_

_ I didn't have to look up to know the expressions on my friends faces, I could hear them gasping and that was enough. "No, no, NO!" I screamed, charging the clone as I screamed at it, "It's all your fault! It's your fault that they think I'm a piece of scum, that I'm an evil monster that needs to be put down!" I missed as it dodged out of the way, and punched me in the back, sending me back to the floor. As I landed, the guards came in and grabbed Sam, Tucker, and Jazz, while leaving me on the floor. Then I realized that my ghost sense never went off, meaning that the clone was only human. _Why would they make the clone only human, why didn't they add the ghost half? _I thought, trying to figure out what their plan was…_

_End of Flashback_

I reached the coffee shop, surprised that I wasn't crying as I arrived, usually I was bawling at that point. I guess it was luck that held me together, and wherever lady luck might be, I owed her big time.

"James, good you're here." I heard my boss, Tom call as I walked into the café.

"Hey Tom." I said, solemnly, trying to put on a fake smile.

"Yo, dude, why are you so glum?" he asked concerned, walking up and putting his hand on my right shoulder.

I shook his hand off my shoulders and took a step back before responding, "Nothing, just a bad night. Don't worry I'll be fine." I lied, hoping he would by it. He eyed me before walking away. I released my held breath and walked to the counter to begin taking orders. The day was slow, which for me, was bad. It just allowed my mind to wander back to that painful day, and to think that the next five months were going to be worse. It was so bad, I was considering Skulkers' offer to become a rug on his floor, _at least he would have made my death quick and painless_. I shuddered at the thought, even though it was probably true. _He would have reclaimed his title as the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter and I wouldn't have had to suffer from all those agonizing torture experiments._ I watched the outside world for a few minutes before being interrupted by Tom as he greeted someone who I assumed to be a favored costumer.

"Raven! Hey, it's been a while since you been in here. What have you been up to?" He asked enthusiastically. _Raven! The Raven! From the Titans? You have got to be kidding me! She comes here?! Figures, just my luck to pick a place where they would be a regular customer!_ I groaned, before stomping away to make a glass of calming iced tea for myself, and ringing myself up. I caught a glare given to me by the Titan before I turned away to sulk some more.

"Tom, I'm going to take a break now, I'll be back in fifteen." I called as I headed to the break room. I don't do this often but I wanted to know what they were discussing, I had caught a glimpse of it while my mind was reeling with the fact that she was in here.

"Well, that's why your hear right. To keep the city safe. Oh did you hear the news this morning." I heard Tom ask.

"No. Why, something happen." She responded, no emotion in her voice what-so-ever.

"Yeah, check it out for yourself." I heard the ruffling of paper, and then a sharp intake of breath.

"Your joking, right? Dr. Light just turned himself in."

"Just read the article, it's really hilarious. But that's not all. Here I'll get you the other paper." Tom laughed, before I heard some footsteps walking towards the break room.

"Yo, James, come out and meet a favorite customer of mine. She is the reason for half of the business in this place." Tom said, peeking his head through the door grabbing some of the older newspapers at the same time.

"No thanks. I'm busy." I replied coldly. I didn't really want to move, or talk to one of them so called hero's, I mean, the left their city unprotected for no reason, and I had to take care of it which put me at even more of a risk of being recaptured. I was still pissed at them and I wasn't planning on talking to any of them any time soon. That and the fact that I don't care for anything more than a normal life, considering all that has happened to me.

"Dude, I don't care. Get out here now. She saw that I have a new worker and I want you to come say hi, so move." His voice was more forceful.

"Fine." I hissed thru my teeth. I reluctantly got up from my seat and followed Tom out of the room. I rolled my eyes behind my shades and walked over to the girl. "Hi." I said, trying to hide my distaste for the current situation, I didn't even bother to look at the dark titan, but past her as if I was staring off into space.

"Hi?" she responded.

"So, Raven, this is James. My new employee."

"I can say my own name you know." I growled, shooting a glare at my boss. I wasn't happy, about any of this.

"Man, what is your problem?" Tom countered, taking a step towards me. For an instant, I considered killing him. I stepped away, took a breath and cleared my head and thoughts out for a second.

"Just a bad day, ok? Can I go now you did you want to introduce me to her fan club as well?" I snarled, my rage was rising, and fast. I just wanted to leave, _you know what? I still need to go grocery shopping, so I think I will leave._

"Just let him go. He is getting angry and I don't want to have to break up a fight." She said. Her interruption startled me, I turned to see her, she had her blue hood up, indoors. _Weird? Then again, I'm wearing sunglasses so maybe not that much._ She tilted her head just enough so the light reflected off of her eyes from under her hood. I froze._ Her eyes? Sam. No. Sam was dead. I watched her die. I saw it happen._ I was in shock from seeing someone with eyes that were so similar. I stood there as waves of pain and anger began to seep through me.

I shook my head, _No,__ just another hallucination, nothing else, her eyes are just similar, that's all, _I told myself trying to keep my cool before turning to my boss, "I'm not feeling so well anymore, I think I'm just going to head home." I didn't wait for the ok to leave, and walked out the door.

**Raven POV**

I headed to my normal gothic café when I wanted to get away from the tower. I couldn't think straight, BB and Cy were arguing over a stupid game while Robin was busy working and I had no idea what Star was doing, but if I didn't leave, I was going to be bombarded with her asking me to 'assist' her. Don't get me wrong, I like Starfire, but after spending the better part of a week in space with her, her people, and on her home planet, I needed my space. Especially after spending most of that time in the T-ship traveling through space, not to mention that the emotions rolling off the other two was blowing my concentration thru the roof and giving me a headache. _Tom took down the help wanted sign. Guess he finally hired someone._ I walked into the café and was eagerly greeted by Tom and a wave of sorrow and misery from someone inside the café.

"Raven! Hey, it's been a while since you been in here. What have you been up to?" He asked. _Great, does everyone have to be so positive?_ Not that I don't like Tom, I do, but his cheeriness can get on my nerves sometimes. Though, when this place first opened, he was the only worker brave enough to talk to me so I guess he is a friend. A very loose definition of the word friend, but still. Immediately after Tom asked me that question I was hit with a sea of emotions, all from one person. I assumed it was from the same person before I entered the building. I watched a teen, long blond hair with electric blue highlights stomp off towards the back corner to make himself some iced tea? _Ok? What pissed him off?_ He then pulled out his wallet and paid for the tea before walking towards the back room.

"Tom, I'm going to take a break now, I'll be back in fifteen." He called, I sensed a lot of anger and sadness radiating from him. I watched him, he was tall, maybe a few inches taller than Cyborg; and Cy was at least 6'2", and from what I could tell, he was very muscular, toned, but not bulky. I could tell he was still a teen, even if I couldn't see half of his face due to the sunglasses he had on. Maybe 17, 18 at the most. He was tan, his hair style didn't seem to match his cloths or body at all. Long, down to his shoulders while his bangs hung in front of his face, and he was constantly flipping them out of his eyes. _Really, if you hair is in your eyes, then get it cut or style it a different way._ His outfit was different to. He had a black shirt, v-neck, exposing a small portion of his chest, with some faded gray jeans, black sneakers, and a white leather jacket. The jacket had gold, silver and black patterned down the right side. I raised an eyebrow from under my hood, _interesting choice in clothing._ I continued to watch as he disappeared into the back room, looking over his shoulder with a small amount of annoyance on his face.

"Raven, what are you looking at?" Tom's voice interrupted me and my thinking.

"Oh, nothing, what did you ask earlier?"

"Where were you guys? You guys were gone for like four days!"

"Five, actually. Just saving a friend, and a world." I said, like I said, he was a friend, but not close enough to know everything we did. Honestly, I just wanted to be left alone, but that wasn't going to happen. I then felt it again. That strange presence, but I couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

"Well, that's why your hear right. To keep the city safe. Oh did you hear the news this morning." Tom asked, I gave him a puzzling look.

"No. Why, something happen." I asked, slightly confused.

"Yeah, check it out for yourself." He said, turning around to hand me the morning paper, I took it from him, leaving it in its folded form, and read the headline; "Dr. Light turns himself in after a successful robbery."

"Your joking, right? Dr. Light just turned himself in." I was in shock. Dr. Light had attacked while we were gone, that wasn't a surprise, but to then just turn himself in? After actually got away with the crime? The was the strange part.

"Just read the article, it's really hilarious. But that's not all, here I'll get you the other paper." Tom laughed as he headed to the break room, leaving me for a few seconds to read the first few sentences.

_The villain, Dr. Light, appeared at the doorstep of the police station with a full confession of stealing from a local ATM. While going over the security footage, it was confirming that he was in fact at the bank. However, he reported that he was caught in the act by the Grim Reaper himself, and this all a tall tale because too say that the Spirit of Death itself would just let someone go alive is what makes this tale even more unrealistic. Or so we thought. Another villain, Red X, was brought in to a different police station, given accounts of theft and breaking and entering, a few days earlier has actually agreed with Doctor Light…_

I just stared at the page, complete shock had taken over, then closely followed by fear. _Is this person, this Reaper, what I have been sensing the entire time? Is it possible that HE actually exists? I can't be certain, and I need to get it, no, him out so I can reassess the feelings I get off him._ A low growl broke my train of thought.

"Hi." There was some anger behind that greeting, most directed towards Tom, but some at me?

"Hi?" My greeting had turned into a question due to how taken back I was from his emotions.

"So, Raven, this is James. My new employee." Tom was obviously trying to release the tension from the room, though I don't think it was helping. I had a feeling that it was about to get worse.

"I can say my own name you know." James growled. There was a ton of venom in his words as he shot a death glare at Tom. A very good death glare, even with sunglasses on I still moved back just slightly. I was right, this was about to get worse.

"Man, what is your problem?" Tom argued, he could probably feel the emotions in the room, sure some of the other people in the building had turned to our little group. Tom took an offensive step towards James, while James just backed up about an inch. There was rage on his face, then he took a breath and his face calmed.

"Just a bad day, ok? Can I go now you did you want to introduce me to her fan club as well?" he snarled, I knew this wasn't going to end well. _Shit, he was now… What the hell? His emotions just disappeared! How did he do that?_ I stared at him wide eyed. I have never in my life come across someone that could hide their emotions like that. I didn't have to feel his emotions to know that something was going to happen, and soon.

"Just let him go. He is getting angry and I don't want to have to break up a fight." I interrupted in my usual monotone voice. I continued to stare at him, lifting my head just a little to get a better view of his face. He turned, and I was attacked by his emotions again, this time was pain, guilt, resentment, all directed at himself? _Why would he feel that way about himself? It makes no… There gone, again?! How does he do that?!_ He just made his emotions evaporate again.

"I'm not feeling so well anymore, I think I'm just going to head home." He said, and without a second look, walked out the door. I immediately looked to Tom, he was just as dumbfounded as I was.

"Tom? You ok?" I asked after what seemed like ages.

"Yea," he shook his head, he was obviously confused, "Oh, Raven. Look I'm so sorry about him, he is usually not this rude. Something must have put him in a bad mood earlier today because he wasn't really himself this morning either."

"Don't worry about it, everyone has an off day." I looked to the door, "Do you mind if I take the papers with me?"

"Not at all," he was still dazed. I shook my head, paid for the papers and headed back to the tower to read the rest of the papers in my room. This was a very interesting day.

**Danny POV**

It had been about an hour since my uncalled for encounter with the Titan, but I didn't regret it. I was getting angry and needed to leave or I would have ripped something or someone apart. I went for a walk to get some fresh air, still trying to clear my head from my anger that was threatening to take over, _Come on don't lose it now, not after a week! This is the longest you've gone without an incident. You can do this!_ I reasoned with myself, trying to pep talk myself, it wasn't working but it kept my mind off of other and more dangerous thoughts. My stomach growled reminding me that I didn't eat breakfast and that I needed to go to the grocery store, _Ok, I guess I'll go get some food for the house._ I sighed and walked back to my house to get my bike and my backpack to carry the food on the way home. I arrived at a store, not really paying attention to the name, just knowing it was a grocery store. I mindlessly wandered through the store, grabbing easily prepared food and put them in the basket, mostly just prepared meals and frozen food items for quick meals. I just needed a few items to last me a few days before I really made a list of the items that I would need to stalk in the house. For that I would need to go to like a Costco or Win-co.

I left the store with a three small bags and loaded them into my backpack before heading back to my house. I opened the garage, and pulled in. I headed inside thru the garage door and straight to the kitchen to pulling the items out of my pack and into their correct locations. I looked at the clock. _Only 5:30? Hmm, ok, I think I'll head back to my room to meditate, I haven't really had a good session recently and if my outburst at work earlier was any indication that I'm losing it, and fast._ I walked past Cujo, who was passed out on the couch, and sat in the middle of the floor and began my usual training.

I was interrupted at six thirty by a very hungry Cujo, "Ok, ok, I'll feed ya. Calm down. I'm heading to the pantry now." I said, getting up and doing what I had told him. I grabbed his food bag and poured two cups of food in his bowl before deciding to make myself something to eat. It was a good think I knew how to cook; fending for myself thanks to my _mom's_ cooking taught me that. Well, that and I gained a stomach of steel trying to either eat her food or trying not to be eaten by her food. I made myself a two of the frozen burritos that I bought, ate them, then spent the rest of the night as usual. I logged onto Doom and played for an hour or two, kicking major butt like always. It was good to know that I hadn't lost my touch to the game after three years of not playing. Of course, all the training with Vlad and my Ghost Master cut into that. I began to recall that after everything he did to me, he still ended up being the only person that could help me. All too soon it was 9:30 so I logged off and changed before heading to bed.

**GIW POV**

Monitoring the ghost was the most boring task in the world, but it paid off when you knew the schedule of the prey. The Phantom kid had just gotten back from the store with a load of groceries. I still couldn't believe he was dumb enough to move into a city, one we chased him too at that, and then have the nerve to think that we wouldn't try to track him. I mean seriously, it was amazing that he was even able to escape our lab almost three years ago. Of course he did have some help from the other half ghost, Plasmius, but we disintegrated it. He was too powerful to leave alive anyways. He chuckled at his joke.

"Has the Ghost boy done anything new?" Agent O asked.

"Negative. Just the store, though he needed to go their eventually. He did have a morning jog, and stormed out of the café before his shift was over, but other than that, nothing out of the ordinary." Agent K answered.

"Good, I'll call the Main HQ and ask for permission to strike with the Phantom Ambush. Hopefully we can have him back at HQ within a week." Agent O grinned.

"Yes sir. That sound good." Agent K responded, grinning just as much. Soon, the ghost boy would have no one to help him, and he would be all theirs, for the rest of his afterlife.

**Raven POV**

I was sitting in my room still trying to figure out what had happened. The incident at the café was beyond mind blowing for me. First, that presence came back, meaning it was still in the city. _Well, I guess that could be taken as both good and bad._ Second was trying to figure out how Tom's new worker, James, was able to hide his emotions like he did. _How did he do that, it was like he just shut them off, was he doing it on purpose, or did he even know he could do that?_ Third and lastly, were the two newspaper articles that Tom had given her; one talking about how both Dr. Light and Red X were in jail from the same guy, while the other just talked about a new hero in the city and how he saved the mall from a flying, blue, fat guy in pajamas. _I wonder if this new person is here to help, or just passing through. The article only says that this new person wears a cool looking white outfit. It sounds similar to the presence that took both Dr. Light and X to jail, but there isn't any real description about him._ I sighed and got up. I needed Robin's help with this. Grabbing the two newspapers, I left for my new destination, the main room. The big metal doors slide open to reveal BB and Cy playing on the game station while Robin and Star were eating dinner. I walked over to where Robin was sitting and sat down next to him.

"Hey Raven." Robin greeted.

"Yes, hello friend Raven. Do you wish to try my-" Starfire started.

"Robin, I need your help." I interrupted, feeling a little bad about it, but Robin needed to know this.

"Uhh, ok. What it is about?" He asked hesitantly.

"You remember that figure that helped us with Red X right?" I started, handing him the two newspapers, he nodded, "Well, there have been more sightings of him, but I can't figure out what he is. However, the papers are saying he is a hero."

"Hmm, that's good news I guess, but I'll look into it." He said, as he began to read the first paper. I looked over to Starfire, who was wearing a very puzzled look.

"So, Starfire, this thing," I started, she frowned, "what did _he_ say to you, other than, well, you know…" I trailed off.

"Well, there was the saying of knowing the feelings of the molecules being ripped apart, and that I should trust him with the way of getting out of those cells." She said, thinking back to the night we apprehended Chang. "There was also the getting out of the ice. He just walked thru it, it was most strange."

"What do you mean walking out of the ice? How could he get out of it? How does anyone just walk out of solid ice?" Cy interrupted, they had obviously realized that we were talking about something important and had come to join us in the conversation.

"Yes. He had turned a strange bluish color, similar to the color of the ice, and was then standing next to it as if the ice was not there. I had tried to ask him but all he said was that he had," she paused, "wished to be free of its cold entrapment, then he was. I did not, nor do I still believe him."

"Whoa, wait. Is this that totally awesome white dude with the seriously deep voice? Dude, that guy was so cool looking! He gave me the creeps but man!" BB finally understood what we were discussing. _God he is slow._

"Beast Boy!" We all shouted. I finished, "Not. Helping." He shrunk back, I wanted to blast him through the window, "Star, you realize that you are saying that he got out of the ice as if it was air. Like the ice wasn't even there. It's not possible, at least i don't think it is."

"Yes, I know, that is what it strange to me. I have never heard of such a thing." She answered, BB just mumbled something to himself, but it reminded me of what he said before we left for Tameran that held much more value to me than the others. _He could sense something off about him! BB is a shape changer, how cold he sense something? Unless… unless it was an animal instinct. But why would it go off around this new thing? _I sighed, I came out with a few questions that I though Robin could answer within a few days and now I was stuck with no answers and even more questions.

* * *

**Three Days Later**

* * *

The next few days were nearly impossible, and I still hadn't figured anything out. _For the love of Azar! Why can't I get anything off of all this! It's like a maze with no exit!_ I knew the only answers that I was going to get were from James, or this supposed new hero in town. Only problem was James was a little on the spiteful side, and the new hero hasn't shown up since the Dr. Light incident. _So now what do I do?_ _Go and try to talk to James? _ I let out a deep breath. _Guess I'm going to the café. Again._

I made a plan to head their tomorrow, hopefully it was empty so I could talk to James by myself, though I wasn't going to get my hopes up. I was exiting the main room when BB's happy emotion skyrocketed, quickly followed by a more devious one. _Great! Just what this tower needs, more pranks and mischief. If he wants to continue living, he will leave me alone._

"Hey Raven!" He called. _Speak of the devil!_ "Want to help me with something?"

I turned, glaring at him. He shrunk back, fear etched across his face, "No."

He wasn't afraid for much longer as he attempted to bombard me with his pathetic attempts at pleading, "But, you didn't-"

"No!" I said louder.

"But?"

"Ask me one more time and you will be swimming with the fishes, GOT IT!" I growled, something cracked in the background, most likely a light bulb. _Calm down Raven. Just leave and go meditate, he won't bother you if you do that. _I told myself, sighing as BB ran up to the others and began to ask them the same questions. _When will he ever learn,_ I thought to myself as I continued into my room, beginning my usual meditation régime, hopping the answers I need would come to me during the meditation. Before I could get any farther, the tower alarm went off. I hurried to the main room to get the report.

"Trouble at the warehouse. Titans, GO!" Robin called out as I entered the room. Great, another pointless robbery. _Do villains_ ever _learn?_

We arrived to the warehouse within a few minutes of the alarm, only that's when it got weird.

**Beast Boy POV**

Before we even got to the warehouse, I was already getting the weird chills and I was really antsy, like when we saw that really cool looking guy with the white, black, and green outfit. Dude, he was so sweet looking. But this was just like that feeling, cold, creepy, dead. I shifted into a bloodhound, seeing if I could get a scent of the guy, or thing, we were going to try and find. I began to sniff, nothing strange was coming up, so I walked around a little more, keeping my nose to the ground. The air around me then dropped like ten degrees. I looked up, startled by the change in temperature, my friends were all doing the same, Cy was checking his scanners while Raven had her eyes closed, searching for this thing. I turned back, looking for anything. That when I saw it. Or didn't see it, which ever was better. There was nothing there, but I could see the slight outline of something maybe ten feet from our current position. Immediately, my hair bristling, and I began growling, not taking my eyes off of the stop in front of me.

"Beast Boy. What is it?" I heard Starfire ask. I stepped forward, still growling. The outline of the figure moved, as if it heard us and was curious as to who we were. It came a few inches closer. I could see more of a shimmer, the figure was flickering like those florescent light bulbs when you first turn them on. _Seriously how can they not see it?_ I thought to myself. I caught a good look and it though the flickering, strobe like flashes of the creature, what I saw scared the crap out of me. I howled, and began to bark like crazy while still standing my ground. My animal instincts where flying off the rails. This thing, whatever it was, it wasn't natural. It was all wrong, and shouldn't be here. At all.

"That's not good." I heard Robin mutter through my insane barking.

"Nah man, whatever is freaking BB out can't be good." Cy said. I was still focusing on that spot. The air around it started to shimmer, like it was covered in a reflective surface that wouldn't stop shinning. _Okay seriously, how can they not see this, it's like a freaking light bulb in a pitch black room! I mean Hello! It's right there!_

"It isn't." Was all Raven said, before they all gasped. _It_ was now visible to everyone.

* * *

**I feel like this was more of a filler, but the next one will have some good action scenes. I promise!**


	4. Ghosts, Tea, and a Virus

**Ok, I finally finished this chapter! I hope you don't have any plans to kill me for that cliffhanger, sorry about that. But I hope this chapter makes up for it!**

**So, here you go, Chapter 4! Enjoy! :D**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Beast Boy POV**

_"It isn't." Was all Raven said, before they all gasped._ It_ was now visible to everyone. _

It was a not human that was for sure. In fact I don't even think it's an animal, but some form of mutated creature that didn't know what it was doing or where it was. It was scared and angry, as if the boxes, crates, and even some of the wall and floor, all ripped to shreds or full of claw marks in the surrounding area, wasn't a clue how it was feeling. It was hard to take my gaze off of the creature to see the surrounding area, but it quickly returned to focus on the creature as I studied it, taking it all in to determine what we were facing.

This thing was glowing slightly, along with the fact that it was almost a translucent ashen color, and skin missing in areas varying between flesh and pure bone, almost zombie like. It had four eyes, all different colors, one burgundy, another lime green, a third was cobalt, and the last was a black. A white pupil completed each eye. The rest of the eye was one color as if the iris and the sclera had merged into to one forming one solid color around the pupil. Its mouth was just a beak, as it opened I could distinguish multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth inside along with three-way forked tongue inside. It had four arms, each hand varying with three to four fingers, but all had razor-sharp talons at the end of each of its fingers. It didn't have hind legs, but a large snake-like tail three times the length of its torso, attached to its midsection that lazily moved around in the air below it.

"What the hell is that!" Cyborg whispered horror creeping into his tone, as Starfire let out a small scream. Robin, though he only took in a sharp breath; and most likely wide-eyed, I could tell he was very disturbed by it. As for Raven? I had no idea but I hoped that she did. _What is this thing?_ I thought as I continued to bark at it. My animal instincts had multiplied three times when it became visible.

"What is that?" Robin whispered, a little scared by what we were up against.

"I have no idea." Raven replied grimly. _Oh shit._ A chill ran down my spine, and all my hope just went down the drain as she said that. _Raven. Our supernatural expert. And she hasn't seen something like this before! We are so screwed._ I heard the familiar sliding of metal on metal meaning Robin had pulled out his bow staff.

"Titan's, GO!" He cried, leaping at the strange creature staff first. We quickly followed, though all of us were a little hesitant about what it could do. It charged us, its tail slithering in the air behind it. Robin's staff came down on its head, sending it to the ground as he safely landed behind it. Star immediately rained starbolts while Cyborg fired his sonic cannon on it and as soon as Robin was clear he launched a few disks. We all waited as we watched the smoke clear. It was even more pissed off than before and let out an ear-splitting screech. I howled, bringing my head to the ground, covering my ears with my paws and closing my eyes. I wondered if everyone else was suffering just as much as I was. The noise thankfully ended when Cyborg fired his sonic cannon at the thing, silencing it for a few moments and causing it to go flying into a wall then land on the ground.

"What was that!" I yelped, changing into my human form, pawing at my ears as they continued ringing from that things horrible cry.

"Great, now I have a headache." Raven deadpanned, rubbing her temples. The thing got up and charged again, Raven attacked this time. A large crate was encased with black energy as she launched it across the room, knocking the creature back to the ground. Robin came at it with his staff along with a combination of kicks and punches. The thing caught Robin's foot, its talons digging into the shoe, and throwing the boy wonder like a rag-doll over its shoulder. _Damn._ I changed into a Bear, roaring while I charged, only to get a nice gash along my right leg, causing me to turn back into my human form from the pain. _That's going to leave a mark._ Star and Cy tag-teamed their attacks, forcing it into a corner for Raven to finish off. Just as she lifted a beam to knock it out, it did something we never expected. It turned a bluish color and disappeared into the ground. All of our jaws dropped. _Where did it go? And how did it do that?! _Wincing, I got up and changed back into the bloodhound so I could at least find the thing when it disappeared.

"Where did it go?" Cy was freaking out. I'm pretty sure we all were. This mutated thing was unlike anything we had ever faced before.

Star gasped, "That is the same color the strange guy turned! The one that assisted us with Red X!"

"No way." Robin said in utter disbelief.

"Ok? So, where did it-" Cy never finished his sentence as the creature flew thru the ground and took him with as it flew in the air. We all heard Cy's girly scream, and if it weren't for the fact that this was a very dangerous mission against something we have never seen before and had no idea what it was capable of, we all would've been on the floor laughing. But Cy was in serious trouble, I could hear the sounds of metal being shredded as Star and Raven flew up to rescue him. Raven encased the thing with her black magic while Star tried to pry Cy free from its grip. I turned into a Falcon and flew straight at its eyes, clawing at them with my talons. I could see that Cy was covered in claw marks, and he wasn't going to be happy about that later.

"Let-Him-GO!" She grunted, finally getting him free thanks to my help of attempting to blind it. As soon as Cy was free, I flew to safety as Robin then threw his disks at it, causing a small explosion, Raven then proceeded to launching it across the room and into a wall. The creature turned that blue color again, but couldn't get free. _Well, at least we now know Raven can hold it down for us._ I saw the hopeful look in everyone else's eyes when it couldn't get free of Ravens magic bindings. I caught the last second of the things eyes narrowing, _like it's locking on to it next target? Like a predator focusing on its next meal? __No?_ A light bulb had gone off in my head. _NO! Raven!_

"Yeah! Way to go Raven!" Cy cheered, but all too soon and I didn't get a change to warn Raven. It screeched again, causing Raven, and the rest of us to lose our focus and for her, the magic bindings on the creature faltered, allowing it to break free. I fell to the ground during its sonic screeching again. As it broke free, it took off like a rocket towards Raven, latching on to her with its four arms, one around her left arm and another on her right thigh with the other two digging into her midsection drawing blood from its talons, and flying straight to the ground for the kill, Raven first. A white blur collided with them, altering their course from the ground to a wall, leaving a giant hole.

Another chill ran down my spine. I knew there was something else here besides that creature. I gasped in shock when the _thing_ reappeared from the hole in the wall and flew straight at us. I didn't have time to think as it charged, luckily Robin threw another disk that encased the thing in ice, allowing us to regroup, minus Raven. I changed into a wolf, hoping that because of the similarities between wolves and dogs, that I would be able to see this thing when it disappeared. I charged at the now frozen monster, only it broke free of the ice and tackled me to the ground and adding a few more caw marks, shifting into a gorilla I threw the thing off of me and charged again, planning to smash it after it attacked Raven like that.

All of a sudden, a green beam of energy knocked the creature across the room halting my attack. _Starfire?_ I glanced up, expecting to see Starfire with a scowl and two starbolts ready in her hands, _but if she is still holding Cyborg, then who fired the green blast? _I was now confused.

Someone roared and charged the mutation, collided with it in mid-air before wrestling it to the ground, forming a crater. I recognized the new person from the fight with Red X. The creepy guy held it down with one hand, his other forming a fist and giving a solid hook across its head. He then jumped into the air dodging a few swipes from it and sat their floating as if he was taunting it. The creature launched itself into the air and straight at the dude. I thought I heard a small laugh and him muttering something about "never learning" before he charged up is right hand with green energy and released a green beam of energy at it, sending the mutated thing into a different wall across the room not moving for a few seconds.

He turned his head to us, "You friend is needs your help. Let me deal with this mutated chimera." He finally called out, in his creepy tone layered with some concern. I looked over to the last place I had seen Raven only to see Star and Cy carefully placing Raven on the ground, and he was right. My eyes were torn from the sight of Raven as a painful cry sounded thru the air. I watched as guy was launched in the air across the room, before landing on the ground with a thud.

"Cyborg, you and Star take Raven to the Tower. BB and I will stay here." Robin ordered, while the sounds of battle still continued behind his words. Cy and Star nodded, before taking off with Raven to the tower. I looked to Robin confused, but nodded as well.

"That's it!" the guy screamed after another loud crash, "You are going down. That means I have to use this!" The thing just screeched in protest and charged. The guy just stood there, waiting. Then, all of a sudden, a scythe magically appeared in his right hand and he slashed while moving to the left as the thing went screaming by him. It fell to the ground crying out in pain, a large gash could be seen on its right side as it was bleeding a greenish liquid which I assumed to be its blood. The guy then pulled out a cylindrical device and sucked up the monster with a baby blue light. He capped the device and floated slowly to the ground, landing softly. I could finally study the scythe that he had summoned to his hand. It was an eerie green blade and smoking while the staff was literally a black tree branch, glittered with some form of rocks or gems. I only got a few seconds before Robin began to question him.

"Who are you?" Robin asked studying the guy as well. I had to say I was curious as well, but my animal instincts were giving me the same reading as the monster.

"What the _hell_ were you _thinking!_ Taking on one of _their_ mutations like that! You are lucky it didn't kill all of you!" He exclaimed in a harsh and deep voice. He was pissed, he gripped his scythe tightly in his hand, his knuckles showing thru his gloves.

"What the hell! How were we supposed to know what _that thing_ was!" Robin shouted back, he face getting red while he gripped his staff in the same manner.

"You are lucky I showed up when I did, otherwise you friend would be dead. And you all would have followed her shortly afterwards. And just for your information, _that,_ is a Serpenthix."

"A ser-pen, a ser-thi-xs..." I said, trying pronouns the name of the creature, "What?"

"A Ser-pen-thixs."

"What is that?" Robin questioned, raising an eye behind his mask.

"Think of it like a Chimera, only one that was created by an _organization_ that _experiments_ and _tortures_ supernatural entities and beings." He informed hissing in a few words. Taking a deep breath, he then relaxed before continuing, "Sorry, you guys have no idea what I'm talking about do you? You did surprisingly well considering…"

"Your? Apologizing?" I asked incredulously after he trailed off_, I'm really confused now, first he was yelling, then lecturing, now he's saying he's sorry? What the hell! Bi-polar much!_

"Yes. I'm still a little pissed from the fight. Give me a few seconds to cool down, I tend to have a nasty temper otherwise. Not the wrath that you'd want to incur, trust me." He nodded, his creepy voice was giving me Goosebumps.

"So, how did you beat it? And where did you get that Scythe? And how did you even know where it was? And why did you help the town while we were gone? What…" Robin started spitting question after question taking very few breaths in-between, trying to get answers from the weird guy.

"If you ever come across something like that or something similar, leave it alone and let me take care of it. I don't want people getting hurt from something they have no experience dealing with." He said, completely ignoring all of Robins questions. Robin's face began to turn multiple shades of red.

"Well thanks. I guess." I interrupted, Robin was pissed. He only nodded before turning to fly away.

"Wait! Who are you? What is your name?" Robin called after him, hoping for some kind of answer.

He stopped, just floating there for a second, most likely thinking before turning just slighty to answer us, "I have many names, but the nicest one I can give you is Eidolon. The rest are not as," he paused, "friendly." And with that, he disappeared into the night.

I looked to Robin who was sporting a concerned but questioning look, "We should get back to the tower to see how Raven is doing." He looked to me and nodded before we both headed back to the tower.

**Robin POV**

Beast Boy and I left the warehouse, I was pissed. _Who the hell did that guy think he was and he had the nerve to tell us to not protect _our_ city! The next time I see him I will drag his ass back to the tower for answers if I have to!_

"So, do you have any idea as to what he meant by leaving those things alone, cause I agree. Both the guy and the monster gave me the same creepy feeling." Beast Boy interrupted as we entered the tower. That piped my interest. _That thing gave off the same feeling as the other guy. What was that guy's name again? Eidolon? What does that even mean?_ I was going to have to do some research of my own to figure this one out. "Hello, earth to Robin."

"Sorry BB, I was thinking."

"Oh, so what was that thing anyways?"

"Ei-dol-on, at least I think that's how it's pronounced, said it was some form of mutated chimera? But that is was also a supernatural entity? It makes no sense. And why would it attack a warehouse. It all seems like a trick. Like a trap." I half answered half thought aloud. _Slade? No he died, right?_ I was going to head to the main computer to begin researching and problem solve to figure out what _he_ would be planning, but told myself it could wait. I needed to at least see if Raven was doing ok. We arrived at the Medical Bay as Cy was walking out of the room.

"Cy, how's Raven doing?" BB asked as I looked into the robotic titans eyes.

"She'll be fine. She's in her normal healing trance now. What's weird is that she was wrapped in gauze when Star and I pulled her out of the wall." He answered slightly puzzled.

"What do you mean?" I asked. _More questions._

"That guy could have wrapped her up. I mean he seemed to know what that thing was and what it could do." BB answered, almost convinced that that was what happened, "I mean, he flew into the wall with them right, so maybe he helped her."

"It's possible, wait he knew what it was? What is it?" Cy asked, his voice raising a pitch or two.

"Eidolon, that's his name, said it was some form of… mutated chimera? I can't really pronounce the name he gave it, but that it was a supernatural entity created by an organization." I informed. Cyborg gawked at me, mouth hanging wide open.

"Are you sure?" he whispered.

"Yes. I'm going to see if I can't find more out about this guy, as well as everything else that he told us." I said, _along with what Slade, if he was still alive, could possible be planning,_ I thought to myself, and headed out of the room.

**Raven POV**

I remembered I was flying in the air when something collided with us and took us thru a wall, then I blacked out. Next thing I know, I'm waking up with a splitting headache and soreness in my stomach. _What the hell happened?_ I could hear the faint beeping of a machine, assuming it was for monitoring my heart rate. I cracked my eyes open a bit only to be blinded by the bright lights. I groaned. There was a sound of shuffling feet as they got closer.

"Hey Raven. How you feeling?" someone boomed. I groaned again, the sound adding further pain to the already growing headache. "Not that good, huh? That's ok, your more serious wounds have already healed to an extent, thanks to your healing trance, but I would say you hit your head pretty hard."

I finally placed the voice, "Cyborg?" I croaked out, "What happened?"

"You don't remember? That thing got you pretty good. You must have hit your head when you slammed into that wall." Cy briefly informed. the sound and light from the room aggravating my head even more. _That explains the headache, no migraine but not the soreness of my stomach muscles._ I opened my eyes, wincing as the brightness of the room adding increased pain in my head. I groaned as I tried to sit up.

"Then why does my stomach hurt?"

"It clawed you as well, most on your midsection, but a few marks on your left arm and right thigh."

"Oh." I mumbled, noticing the slight pressure on my arm, leg, and midsection as I looked down. Gauze was wrapped around each of the gashes.

"Hey, relax. Your fine now. Maybe one more day in here then you will be free to go." He said, trying to cheer me up. As if I was ever cheery but hey, it's the thought that counts. I lifted my head to meet his gaze, nodding before laying back down to get some more rest. Though that didn't really happen as I had planned, see as how the rest of the team decided to show up. Not that I was angry, though I was, I knew they were just wanted to make sure I was ok. Apparently I was the only one that took a beating. _What the hell! There is defiantly something wrong with that logic._

"Dude, your awake! How you feeling?" BB yelled. My head throbbed again.

"Well, I was going to go back to sleep. And now, thanks to you, my head hurts even more." I growled at him, though it sounded weak.

"Friend Raven! I am most relived to see that you are awake." Star said, practically jumping with joy. I noticed Robin standing in the back, reading an article he must have printed out.

"Yeah, me too." I said flatly, "Robin?"

"Raven, nice to see your awake. When you're feeling better, I would like to talk to you about the guy that saved you."

"Guy? What guy?" I questioned, curiosity getting the better of me as I continued, "There was no guy."

"He was the one that beat the monster. That white guy, you know… the guy that helped us with Red X." BB to inform me before turning to Robin, "Robin, what did he say his name was?"

"BB not now, we should let Raven rest." Robin said, trying to avoid my harsh gaze.

"No. Now! What is his name?" I interrupted. _He was there! And he told them his _name_!_

Robin sighed, "He said it was, ah… Ei-dol-on," he struggled a little with the pronunciation, my eyes widened, "And that we should just let him deal with those monsters."

"He. Said. His. Name. Was. What?" I managed to choke out. _So he is a ghost. But wait, how? No, not possible, but then again, it would make more sense as to how BB can see him._

"Raven? Do you know him?" Robin asked, obviously noticing my split second facial expression.

"No. I would like to get some more rest if you don't mind. My head is killing me." I said, close to a growl. The team just nodded, though Robin shot me a look, and everyone but Cy left, most likely to set up a monitor for me. _I'm so going to have deal with Robin later. Crap._ Cy gave me some pills for my migraine and I went back to sleep, thanks to the drowsy effect from the medicine.

I woke up and noticed that it was dark outside, looking to the clock, I saw that it was 4:47 in the morning. _So I slept for over twelve hours. Great. Well at least this headache is gone._ I was interrupted by my stomach as it growled. I looked around the room to see if there was anything to eat. Nope. I sighed, deciding to try and stand up, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and pushed off. A little wobbly but not bad so I started to move forward. I stumbled in a few places but finally made it to the kitchen in the main room. I opened the fridge and looked for anything editable. _Hmmm, leftover pizza, Cyborgs baby-back ribs, something made by Starfire no thanks, or tofu from BB no… Pizza it is._ I reached into the fridge and pulled out two slices, placed them on a plate I found in a nearby cupboard, and popped them into the microwave for thirty seconds. While I waited for them to finish cooking, I began to make myself some tea and started to boil some water. The microwave beeped, signaling that my food was ready. I opened it up and pulled my warm food out and sat down at a stool and began to eat. I was halfway through my second slice before the kettle pot whistled telling me that the water was hot. I got up, grabbed my usual tea cup, tea leaves, and tea leaves holder, and poured the water in my cup, adding the leaves and let it sit for a few minutes. I finished my pizza, and started to sip my tea, letting it calm me down while I sat on the stool. What I really needed to do was meditate, and I had a feeling that it had been at least two days since my last meditation session. I looked out the window, the sun was just starting to rise. _Perfect, I'll go to the roof and meditate there, _then I headed out the door and to the roof. I didn't stumble as much, but I still tripped a few times but finally made it. I got into my usual lotus pose, and clearing my mind while finding my center, I began my mantra.

The sun was up and shining brightly by the time I was finished, though I was surprised that no one interrupted me. They could have still been in bed, though not likely for Star and Robin. Cyborg? Maybe, if he was up most of the night checking in on me while I was resting/healing myself. BB? Defiantly still in bed. He didn't like to get up till almost noon, and it defiantly wasn't noon yet.

"Raven! There you are! We have been looking everywhere for you!" shouted a loud voice as it cut thru the silence. _Never mind._ I placed the voice as Cyborg. Of course he would be worried, I was like a little sister to him. "You scared the crap out of all of us!"

"Sorry." I mumbled, "I just needed to meditate and I woke up really early. I didn't mean to."

"Just don't do it again. How did you get up here anyways?" He was curious now. I tilted my head, slightly confused.

"Huh? What are- oh, easy. I walked."

"But, you were-"

"Nope. Not anymore. I practically slept all day yesterday, not to mention my healing trance helped out a little as well." I interrupted, he raised an eyebrow, "Ok, so I stumbled a little. No big deal." He nodded before contacting the rest of the team. _They were all looking for me?_

"Okay, well I want to run another scan on you before I give you the all clear, and you should probably come down to the main room so everyone else can relax after that scare." Cy said. I nodded, it seemed logical, and followed him to the main room. As soon as we entered, I was embraced with a bone crushing hug.

"Oh! Friend Raven! We were so very worried! I had thought you had done the way of running from home!" She said, squeezing tighter with each sentence.

"Star. Can't . Breath." I managed to get out, the tight pressure around my ribs released and I could breathe again. I took multiple gulps of air, trying to get the oxygen to recirculate throughout my system. Star backed away shyly with a small smile.

"Good to see your ok." BB squeaked with his little kid like voice.

"Alright, alright. Give her some space." I heard Robin call out, I was thankful for it as it was getting a little cramped with everyone crowding around me. "You gave us quite a scare not being in the med room this morning." I couldn't help but give a small smile at his teasing tone but he continued, "But, I want Cy to do another health scan just to be safe."

"I know, Cy already told me." I stated, "So, can we get the health scan over with, there are things I need to do today." Robin just raised his eyebrow.

"Uhh, sure. What were you planning for the day?" Cy asked.

"Nothing that concerns you. Yet." Everyone backed off fully knowing it was best to leave it at that. Cy nodded and we headed to the medical room for my diagnostic. All clear, well for regular non-meta human activities. _Perfect. At least that means I can leave the tower and go talk to that James dude, and find out why he can hide his emotions like that._ So I headed out, but only after Cy had me rewrapped in a new set of bandages. Not that I blamed him, I still had some nasty gashes that have scabbed over thanks to that monster.

I arrived at the café around 9:30 bumping into some guys, dressed in white suits with black shades, were on their way out. "Sorry. My bad." I said in my monotone voice. They just nodded with appreciative smiles on their faces and continued walking. _Odd._ I continued into the store and worked my way over to my usual corner and waited for Tom to notice me. I picked up a newspaper and began reading when a loud motor caught my attention. The bell chimed as a guy walked into the store, he pulled off his helmet, revealing his face. _James? Wait he has a bike? Since when?_ I was apparently staring because he looked my way and smirked. I just rolled my eyes and went back to my paper.

"Hey, what can I get for you?" said a husky like voice, which I assumed was James. Looking up I realized that I was right.

"Herbal tea. Hot and with loose leaves, please." I could tell he was completely thrown though a loop because I ordered something that wasn't coffee. I raised an eyebrow, he just wrote it down and walked away. I smirked to myself as I continued to read the paper, seeing as how it was discussing the events from two nights ago.

"Raven! Good to see you again. Herbal Tea?" Tom called out, guess he finally noticed me.

"I already gave my order to James, though I don't think he would know how to make it." I answered, raising an eyebrow at the sight before me, James, who had his back to me, was messing around with something, most likely how to make the tea or where the leaves were. I figured he was angry by the way things were being slammed on the counter.

"Yeah, no sweat. I'll get it for you." Tom said, turning around to fix my order. I just chuckled, knowing how this was going to turn out. I looked back at the newspaper, it was going to be at least ten minutes because Tom was going to have to start all over. I was hit with a wave of shock. I looked up to see Tom staring wide-eyed and jaw dropped at the counter before turning to watch James. I couldn't figure out why until a soft click sounded next to me.

"Here you go, one cup of freshly made loose leaf, Herbal tea." He said, smiling as he set the cup down on the table next to me. _He can make herbal tea?! WTF! _I was sure my eyes were as wide as a dinner plate as he walked away chuckling at my reaction, or Tom's. Most likely both of ours. Tom had walked over to me, still wide-eyed and blew my mind even further.

_ "_I haven't taught him how to make your drink yet either." Tom whispered, somehow he made his way over to me. _WTF! He hasn't taught James how to my drink?! WTF! WTF! WTF!_ I just stared, my mind reeling. I needed to calm down or a light was going t- CRACK! _Too late._ I took a sip of tea, it helped a little, but not by much. I heard James snicker again, grabbing a broom to clean the floor from the shattered bulb. _It was like he was expecting me to- That's it! I'm so going to talk to him now!_ I got up and marched myself over to him while he continued to clean up the broken glass.

"We need to talk." I said flatly even though I was seething.

"About what?" He said, as if he was completely clueless to the whole situation.

"Like you don't know." So he wanted to play _that _game. Well fine.

"Don't know what." He said smugly, bending down to use the dust pan to sweep up the broken glass.

"Where did you learn to make my tea, because Tom told me he hasn't taught you yet?" I questioned, slightly growling.

"What, is it against the law that I know how to make it? Why does that even matter anyways, it's just dried tea leaves soaked in hot water, not rocket science." He sarcastically replied. He was grinning as he looked up, most likely knowing that this was pissing me off, however his sarcasm was interesting. Definitely new and surprisingly good too.

"You're avoiding the question." I pointed out, two can play this game.

"And it matters why?"

"It just does, so answer the question. And stop pretending to be clueless, it's not helping your case."

He stood up with the dustpan and all the broken glass before answering, "I learned while I was still living with my father. He liked tea and I had to learn how to make it for him. Happy." He growled. He was slightly aggravated, but not much, though it was directed towards me. _No surprise there._ And right on que, his emotions disappeared.

"Want to explain how you do that as well?" I questioned.

"Do what?" he said, pretending to be clueless again.

"What did I tell you about pretending to not know what I'm talking about?" I growled. He just stared at me, confused.

"I seriously don't know what you are talking about. Now if you don't mind, I have to get back to my job." He growled back. He was being honest, according to the miniscule amount on emotion that seeped thru. But before I could ponder it any farther, my communicator beeped.

"Robin? What is it?" I answered, a little irritated.

"Trouble in downtown, there's a bank robbery in progress with armed gunman and hostages." He answered, "Though don't do anything to dangerous, or to get yourself hurt. We are on our way there now."

"Okay, I'll meet you there." I said and took off towards the bank. These idiots picked the wrong time to mess with me and they were going to regret it. I arrived on the scene with cops swarmed around the bank, but they were all just standing around, obviously they couldn't do anything without the robbers killing the civilians. I turned to the chief, "So, how many civilians and how many robbers?"

"Unsure about the number of civilians, but there is six robbers, all armed." He answered.

"Ok, the rest of the Titans will be here shortly." I responded before turning towards the bank and teleported myself inside, hiding in a wall to observe the scene before I barged in. I saw all six of the gunmen, and what looked like twenty or so people on the floor hands on their heads. I phased thru the wall to disarm the six robbers.

"Azarath, Mentrion, Zinthos!" I used my magic to disarm and dismantle all six guns, making them weaponless for the moment before I stepped out in to the open. "Next time you want to make a withdrawal, your might want to wait in line like everyone else." I said, extremely pissed off. I heard two motors shut off as the rest of my team showed up. Though apparently the robbers weren't all too happy with my interference because the two closest to me charged right then. _Great._ I dodged both by floating into the air and landing after they had passed. Of course that was a bad idea as one of the two had stopped, I turned to face him, already knowing his intentions, but was faster than I thought and gave me a good kick in the gut, knocking me to the ground. The Team taken care of the other four, assuming that's what the grunts and cries of pain where from behind me, while getting the civilians out of the bank at the same time. I felt a warm sensation slowly begin to spread across my stomach. _Crap, my wound just reopened._ I glared at the two idiots causing them to flinch as I tried to stand, distracting them while BB knocked them out as a green Sasquatch before coming over to help me up. Shortly after that, the cops had come in and cuffed them while Robin talked with the chief.

"Cyborg?" I called out, clutching my stomach trying to stop the bleeding. _I should have been more careful. Great, now Robin will chew me out for sure._ He obviously knew what happened because he was over to me in a second.

"It reopened didn't it? Damn. Okay, we need to get you back to the tower so I can clean and rewrap it." Cy said, helping me up and walking me to the T-car, he quickly called out to Robin, "Yo, Rob! I gotta take Raven back to the tower!" Robin just nodded, figuring that he would get what he needed later and turned back to the chief. The ride back to the tower sucked, and I couldn't heal myself until Cyborg had taken a look. The bleeding had slowed down after we left and was almost done when we had gotten to the tower. Cyborg helped me get to the medical bay and began to unwrap my blood-stained gauze, and began to wipe some more antibacterial solution on it.

"So, how bad is it?" I asked as Cy continued to clean it. I winced each time the antibacterial solution was rubbed over the open sore.

"Not that bad actually, but you should probably take it easy the rest of the day." Cy said, reaching for sterile gauze so he could rewrap my stomach with it.

"No shit, what did you think I was gonna go do, run a marathon after this?" I deadpanned. Cy just chuckled, standing up so he could help me sit up.

"There you go. All done. You can use one of your spells now." He said. I nodded, before chanting a simple healing spell. The pain instantly lessened, and I sighed in relief. I decided to head to my room to take it easy, maybe a nice few hours of more meditation until dinner. Sounded like a good idea, seeing as how I still needed to catch up on the two days that I missed. But Robin decided to come in at that moment, and he looked upset.

"I told you not to do anything dangerous!" He shouted, fuming a little.

"I didn't. I just dismantled their guns when the two charged at me. I levitated above them then landed. One of them just got a good kick to my gut. No big deal. It's not like I got shot." I started, trying to reason.

"Well you could have been! You realize that it could have been worse!" He exclaimed. I shook my head.

"If you're done, I would like to go to my room and rest now." I said, pretending to be bored. _Of course I knew what could have happened! Do you think I didn't? Aren't we all in that position when we go to save the city._ I just walked to my room, leaving a steamed Robin and grinning Cyborg in the medical bay.

I opened my door and walked into my room, when I remembered the conversation earlier about what happened after I blacked out from the fight with that thing. _Eidolon, another meaning for ghost. But if he was a ghost, that would mean he is dead. Right? Or does that mean he is like a ghost?_ I headed to my book shelf and looked for all my books that mentioned anything about the supernatural. I ended up grabbing seven or eight books and began to read them, hoping to get that answer that I needed. I looked up the name just to be sure. Eidolon, one meaning being a phantom or apparition, the second being an ideal. Though I figured the first was most likely what he had in mind as a name. _Okay. So he has the name that means a ghost? Now what? Why would he give himself that name then? According to Starfire he was disintegrated, meaning he knows how he died. But ghosts don't remember that, so maybe he was trying to distract Dr. Chang? No, Star said he seemed very upset at the comment he made. Then there was the fact that Beast Boy said that he gave the same feeling as that monster, plus it could turn the same blue color according to Star, seeing as how see has seen both the guy and that thing do. Gah! This is so confusing!_ _I guess I'll just have to ask him the next time we see him. Whenever that is._ I decided to stop thinking and just meditate. It could help, and there was still the whole James issue I still needed to deal with. _Tomorrow is going to be interesting._

I couldn't have been more right about, but it was not how I had planned. I was walking from my room to the main room when a green blur flew past me, nearly causing me to drop my book about spirits and other supernatural entities. It was only shortly after Starfire and Robin had entered that Cyborg came bursting thru the doors and began to eat the couch. Apparently Beast Boy thought it would be a great idea to infect Cyborg with a Virus because of a stupid video game that he probably illegally downloaded. _Stupid Changeling._ And of course we had to stop him before he ate the whole city, not to mention we had to force Gizmo to help us. Not that we wanted his villainous butt to help us, unfortunately it was the only option. So here I was, watching Cyborg eat object after object while he continued to run from us. We finally caught up to him as he was trying to get Azar know what out of an ATM.

"You can keep your sprinkles I need razzberry filling!" the deranged titan shouted, punching the machine, sending purple sparks thru it and causing money to fly out while he just opened his mouth and began to eat the green paper before spitting it out and yelling again, "No! Not macaroni!" as he grabbed the machine flooding it with the purple energy and shaking it around before finally noticing us. His eyes widened before he dropped the machine and took off again. The ATM began to overload before it exploded.

"Cyborg's virus has made sick the machine of money." Star stated.

"And if this is what it does to an ATM machine…" I started.

"There's no telling what it could do to everything else. Come on!" Robin finished before running after Cyborg. I looked back to see if anyone was hurt, only to see a guy on a black green and silver motor cycle with his matching helmet turned towards our general direction. He must have noticed that I was looking at him because he raised one hand to the side of his head in the shape of a phone and shook it slightly. _HE DID NOT JUST DO WHAT I THINK HE DID!_ My eyes widened to the size of saucers before I changing to a death glare as I heard his laughter before the motor droned it out as he rode off. I turned around and followed Robin and Starfire, seething. _Some__ idiot had the_ nerve_ to_ motion_ to me that I should_ call _him!_ The next time I saw him I was going to give him a piece of my mind! I caught up to the others just as Cy infected a soda machine. I quickly surrounded it with my magic just as it exploded.

"The city's communication hub? If he infects that transmitter coil, the virus will spread to every machine within a hundred miles!" Robin exclaimed. We took off, this time we had to stop him, and to be honest, we almost lost, until he sneezed and shut down. We surrounded him, hoping he would wake up normal.

"What happen? Oh my stomach. It feels like I ate a tire." He groaned, then belched.

"That is a distinct possibility." I grinned, happy he was ok.

"Then you are alright?" Star asked.

"I think so? Something must have overloaded my systems and triggered an automatic reboot. After that, virus protection came back online. Whatever got into me, it's out." He said, wiping his nose with is arm.

"Beast Boy! He did it!" Robin exclaimed. _That gross! I don't think I can ever think of a cold the same way again._ Cyborg just stared shocked at the green slime on his arm.

"Aw man, that better not be who I think it is!" He whined, pointing towards the slime with a disgusted face. _Too bad it is._

When we finally got back to the tower, Cy unfortunately had a cold, thanks to BB and he was trying to explain what really went on inside if the cybernetic teen. Of course Cy didn't really want to know, and quite frankly, neither did I. Though Star did bring up a good question, completely freezing any thoughts Cyborg was thinking as well as freaking him out knowing that a villain was inside him along with BB. That, or it was Starfire's cooking. Most likely the latter. _What did happen to Gizmo?_ Oh well, he's a genius, he could figure it out on his own.

* * *

**Yeah, chapter 4... kinda another filler, and kinda not. You decide.**

** So to answer a few Reviews: Yes the cliffie at the end of chapter 3 was really uncalled for, especially how I left it. I'm again, sorry about that. I couldn't decide what ghost should attack, so I cut it off there. It always seems like its the Box Ghost or Skulker that attacks the Titans first, so I decided to be a rule breaker and throw in something new. Same with the Vlad thing. Yes he is dead. Gone. For good. Other that in flashbacks. He is also always a main villain in other crossovers or he is just there and not really anything other than a supporting character. So I decided to change that up too. Not that there is anything wrong with him being that villain, I just wanted to do something different with him, that's all. Oh and the whole thing with Ember, I think it was just to rhyme her name with the song, you know, like when you get a song stuck in your head. I think it was mostly so she could get more powerful when people chanted her name. I'm pretty sure that she has no recollection of how she died, I don't think most, if not all, ghost from the DP world remember their deaths. **

**Well, with that being said, see you at the next chapter!**


	5. Rescue, Messing Around, and Attack

**Happy Holidays! I hope you all have been having a great holiday so far. **

**So, here is my gift to you...**

**Chapter 5 Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Danny POV**

I didn't to even fall asleep when my ghost sense went off. _Seriously! Now! I swear if it is the Box Ghost, Skulker, or Technus, they are going to be heading back to the ghost zone in pieces!_ I changed into my alter ego before phasing thru my roof and tried to track this ghost down. I increased my hearing and so I could listen for it. Nothing. I duplicated and spread out, each of my duplicates doing the same, four is better than one and I could find the troublesome ghost faster this way. Copy number three found the ghost because of its screech then notifying me that the titans had shown up. I regrouped and merged myself with the others before I headed in.

"Yeah! Way to go Raven!" someone cheered. The response was an all too familiar cry and it wasn't from a ghost I previously thought it would be. Not even close. _No! A Serpenthixs! Here, now? Shit! _ I saw it launch itself at Raven, gripping her and taking her to the ground, and I planned to intercept it. I flew at my top speed and collided with them while trying to slow our group speed so the titan would die on impact. My collision had altered the course from the Serpenthixs desired target, the ground, to a more cushiony location of a nearby wall. Flipping our tangled mess of bodies, I managed to turn us around in the air so that it was me and the Serpenthixs that hit the wall first, not Raven. She was already injured enough thanks to its talon-like claws digging and slashing her pale gray skin. We hit the wall at a speed of around one fifty, normal for me, but not to the Titan, as she blacked out on impact. Luck for her, my body acted like a cushion to soften the blow, as we barreled thru it and into the ground, rolling for a few feet before coming to a stop.

I was instantly tearing the beast off of her, fully knowing how deadly Serpenthixses can be thanks to past experience. We struggled a bit before I was able to kick it back towards the wall. I charged up an ecto beam as a warning and watched as it slowly crawl thru the whole, hissing at me as it left. I turned to Raven, pulled out my gauze from my belt and wrapped her so she wouldn't lose any more blood, or get an infection, before I went to save the other titans. _This is not what I meant when I wanted to see them try to fight a ghost!_ I quickly wrapped the white gauze around her arm, her thigh, and her waist, her blood beginning to already seep thru. I hear a roar, _fuck,_ and dropped the empty gauze roll before leaving in a hurry knowing she was taken care of for now. I hoped that she was going to be okay until this thing was dealt with quickly and properly, so I could go back and fix her bandages.

I crawled thru the hole and saw a green gorilla charging the Serpenthixs. _No you idiot, it wants you to do that!_ I growled to myself and fired an ecto beam at the creature, knocking it way form the gorilla and saving his life. It started to get back up to attack, "NO YOU DON'T!" I roared shooting off like a rocket to take it back to the ground. I created a crater on impact, the Serpenthixs taking most of the damage, luckily. I struggled a little trying to hold it down but I eventually got a good hold and gave it a nice right hook across its head just to piss it off so it would only attack me, then leaped back avoiding its attempted swipes and taunted it as I floated ten feet in the air. It growled and charged.

"You stupid things never learn." I said to myself while charging up a super strong ecto blast and fired, sending it across the room and out cold for a few moments. I realized this wasn't going to be a short fight so I turned my head to the Titans, "Your friend needs your help. Let me deal with this mutated chimera." I saw them all look over to the wall. I looked back at the thing only to realize that I couldn't stop its attack, I let out a cry as I flew across the room and landed on the floor. _Damn it Danny! You can't get distracted!_ I heard Robin shout an order, at least I think it was an order, and looked up only to get hit with another tail whip and found my face full of concrete again. I was angry now, I shouldn't have gotten hit at all. I floated up in the air so that it would have a clear view of a target.

"That's it! You are going down! That means I have to use this!" I knew I had everyone's full attention now after that outburst; I stood my ground, held my position, same thing, while the monster just screeched and charged recklessly. I waited for a moment before summoning my scythe. In one motion I sidestepped in the air, and slashed down on the Serpenthixs, causing it to fall to the ground, screaming in pain from the ectoranuim blade. I saw the three foot gash in its side and the ectoplasm flowing from its wound, I pulled the thermos form my belt and sucked it up. I replaced the thermos onto the latch in my belt before floating back down to the ground, softly landing on the ground before acknowledging the two remaining Titans. The others must have taken Raven back to their tower for medical attention. _Good._

"Who are you?" The leader asked, looking me over. The green dude, Beast Boy was doing the same thing, but all I could manage at the moment was shout at them, still way to pissed off to think clearly.

"What the _hell_ where you _thinking!_ Taking on one of _their_ mutations like that! You're lucky it didn't kill all of you!" I shouted, gripping my scythe tighter in my hand. I was pissed. They should have know this was something dangerous by the way it attacked them, not to mention that it almost killed their team mate.

"What the hell! How were we supposed to know what _that_ _thing_ was!" Robin countered, red creeping into his face as he also gripped his staff tighter. _He did have a good point, but no excuse for attacking it without seeing what it could do first. And they are supposed to be hero's. Please._

"You are lucky I showed up when I did, otherwise your friend would be dead. And all of you would have followed her shortly afterwards. And just for your information, _that,_ is a Serpenthixs." I informed, still pissed off as hell.

"A ser-pen, a ser-thi-xs..." Beast Boy said, trying pronouns the name of the creature, "What?"

"A Ser-pen-thixs." I sounded out.

"What is that?" Robin questioned, raising an eye behind his mask.

"Think of it like a Chimera, only one that was created by an _organization_ that _experiments_ and _tortures_ supernatural entities and beings." I hissed, _calm down, they don't know anything about this subject or what I'm even talking about. Just take a deep breath._ I relaxed before continuing in a softer tone, "Sorry, you guys have no idea what I'm talking about do you? You did surprisingly well considering…"

"Your? Apologizing?" The green dude asked incredulously, he was obviously confused.

"Yes. I'm still a little pissed from the fight. Give me a few seconds to cool down, I tend to have a nasty temper otherwise. Not the wrath that you'd want to incur, trust me." I nodded.

"So, how did you beat it? And where did you get that Scythe? And how did you even know where it was? And why did you help the town while we were gone? What…" Robin started spitting question after question taking very few breaths in-between. _As if I am going to answer any of those._ So I just ignored them and just warn them about possible future ghost attacks.

"If you ever come across something like that or anything else that is similar, leave it alone and let me take care of it. I don't want people getting hurt or killed from something they have no experience dealing with." I informed, with a hint of a warning while completely ignoring all of Robin's questions. His face began to turn different shades of red within seconds.

"Well thanks. I guess." I heard Beast Boy interrupt. I didn't say anything, just nodding and turned to fly back to my house.

"Wait! Who are you? What is your name?" Robin called after me, hoping I would answer him. _I guess I should, but… nah, my name shouldn't draw attention right?_

I stopped to think about whether I really should answer, before turning just slightly to give an answer, "I have many names, but the nicest one I can give you is Eidolon. The rest are not as," I paused trying to find the right word, "friendly," before I disappeared into the night not looking back. _I hope they don't figure out who I really am, otherwise I'm screwed, but that name should tell them that I am not a normal adversary._ This was going to be all over the news, wasn't it?_ Great. Just what I needed, publicity._ I headed home, regretting my oh so brilliant idea of telling them my name, and to get some sleep before I had to work tomorrow.

* * *

It had been a few days since the ghost fight Raven hadn't come into the café yet, though I didn't think she would after that attack, I mean who would, or could for that matter. I was running late for my 9:30-4:30 shift. I pulled my bike up and parked it on the sidewalk like I usually did, and began to unbuckle my helmet as I walked into the building. I looked around as I walked to the back room. I noticed Raven staring at me from her corner, apparently very confused, _hmm, I wonder why?_ I sent a smile her way. She rolled her eyes and looked back at the paper she was reading. _I win. _I changed and walked out to see if anyone was still waiting to place their orders, my first stop, Raven. My stupid hero complex was forcing me to make sure she was ok from her little incident with that monster. I was waved down by a different table first. _Of course. The Universe just can't let me get what I want for once in my life._ I took their orders, one skinny latte and a iced white mocha with whip, writing them down and then headed towards the corner the titan was in.

"Hey, what can I get for you?" I asked, my voice was a little deep, not much, she looked up and frowned slightly.

"Herbal Tea. Hot with loose leaves please." She said instantly. I stood their completely confused. She raised an eyebrow at me. _Ok, not the order I was expecting to have to make._ She smirked at me while I wrote down her order and stomped back to the counter to make the drinks.

"Hey, Raven! Good to see you again. Herbal tea?" I heard Tom shout across the room. _Wow, slow much?_ I heard her response and smiled slightly to myself, _Time to mess with Raven!_ I began to slam things around as if I was really frustrated with her stupid drink when really I was making the other two girls drinks. Though I like herbal tea, so it's not stupid, but you know what I mean. Tom apparently knew what she was talking about and offered to fix it himself. _No, I should screw with both of them._ I took the leaf strainer out of her cup and placed it in the sink and turned to walk towards Raven with her cup of tea. I caught the look on Tom's face as I walked by him, if only I had a camera. Raven had noticed and was confused at Toms facial expression so I decided to explain it to her, but i was going to do that my way.

"Here you go," I set the cup down making it clink against the table, "One cup of freshly made loose leaf, herbal tea." Now I really wish I had a camera, both of their faces were priceless. A total Kodak moment. Tom's next comment almost got a laugh out of me.

"I haven't taught him how to make your drink yet either." A light bulb was surrounded in black energy and exploded, I just chuckled. I grabbed a broom and a dust pan to clean it up. A smile unfolded its self across my lips as I heard footsteps get closer to me.

"We need to talk." She demanded.

"About what?" I asked innocently, though I did know what she was hinting at.

"Like you don't know." She had a hint of venom in her statement.

"Don't know what?" I answered, another smile growing on my lips. I was _so_ going to play this game with her. _This is going to be fun. _I bent down to start sweeping up the glass into the dust pan.

"Where did you learn to make my tea, because Tom told me he hadn't taught you yet?" She growled, not much of a growl with her dead monotone though. Now I was really going to mess with her mind.

"What, is it against the law that I know how to make it? Why does it even matter anyways, it's just tea leaves soaked in hot water, not rocket science." I sarcastically remarked. I smiled as I looked up at her. _That should put her over the edge._

"You're avoiding the question." Her aggravation was growing.

"And it matters why?" I was sure she was going to snap any second, but if she did, things wouldn't go so well, so I guess I should give her some answer.

"It just does, so answer the question. And stop trying to be clueless, it's not helping." She hissed. _Took her long enough to finally say something._

I stood up and looked her in the eyes as I answered, "I learned while I still lived with my father. He liked tea and I had to make if for him. Happy." The lie, or rather half lie, rolled off my tongue easily. Sure, I had to make it for myself but she doesn't need to know that, yet. I should have been pissed that she wasn't letting this go but hey, I was having fun.

"What to explain how you do that as well?" She questioned me.

"Do what?" _Huh?_ I was now confused. _Now what's she accusing me of?_

"What did I tell you about pretending to not know what I'm talking about?" She snapped at me.

"I seriously don't know what you are talking about. Now if you don't mind, I have to get back to my job."_ What the hell is she talking about?_ Before either of us could speak again, her communicator beeped. Something about an armed bank robbery and she ran out the door. _Don't hurt yourself again because I'm not going to be there to save you._ She didn't come back afterwards either. No surprise there.

The next day I was riding to the bank to drop off my paycheck when I saw the robo titan, Cyborg eating a stop sign. _Ok? Weird, he must have some type of virus, because that's not normal._ Shaking my head and chuckling to myself, I continued to the bank. I filled my bike up with some gas before heading home to be greeted with a similar sight. I saw him spit out some money, angrily yelling at an ATM machine, before grabbing hold of it, sending purple sparks thru it and which caused it to explode a few moments after he let go. _T__hat looks like a really bad virus._ I watched as Raven turned around to make sure no one was hurt from the exploding machine. Her gaze paused as she noticed me. She couldn't tell who I was because of my helmet, which gave me an ingenious idea. _Oh I so have to screw with her now._ I was already facing her, so I lifted my hand and formed a fist letting out my thumb and pinkie finger to make a phone and raised it to my right ear. I wish I could have had a camera again. Her face was beyond priceless! Again! It quickly changed to a glare, a very good glare, but not as good as mine. I let out a laugh as I drove off, my engine drowning out the end of my laugh. _That was classic. I can't wait to hear this tomorrow in the café!_ By the time I got back home I realized that I was having fun playing around with Ravens head, like regular teenage boy should. _How did I get so happy? Vlad died like two or three weeks ago. I should be..._ I lost all my happy thoughts down the drain as I thought about his death and the basic plan we had decided on in case anything happened to him, leaving me alone and unprotected, again…

_Beginning of Memory_

_ "Now Daniel, you must be well aware of the possibility of being-" Vlad had began, I didn't want to talk about it though, I was just broken out of their stupid facility._

_ "I know, I know! I just. I don't want to talk about it!" I shouted, interrupting him. I was angry, scared, depressed, and still traumatized from the insane tortured that I had to endure for five months or so. Vlad had been nothing but kind and caring to me since my rescue, but I still wasn't fond of him yet, even if he had given me a valid reason to stay with him._

_ "I'm sorry, but, we must plan this out now, who knows when they will find you again and you must be prepared for any situation." He continued. I turned away, not wanting to listen to the truth that was coming from him. I heard him shuffle around before a hand landed on my shoulder. "Daniel, please. Let's talk about this."_

_ "Fine, but this is a one time thing." I growled before turning back to him, a scowl on my face. He only nodded, before walking back to the table we were sitting at. I followed, still fuming in my current situation. My parents hated _and_ wanted to kill me, the GIW were after me wanting to finish all of their science experiments on me, oh and let's not forget that I was forced to helplessly watch Jazz, Tucker, and Sam were all murdered by an evil clone. What other choice did I have? I sat down and folded my arms while still looking at the floor._

_ "Look, Daniel, I'm only trying to keep you happy. I just want was best for you." Vlad pleaded, I knew he didn't know about my future but that comment caused me to snap._

_ "No you don't get it! It's dangerous for me and for you if I stay here. Just by being here with you is putting the world at risk!"I screamed. Vlad was appalled by my outburst, but I couldn't think, I was still screaming at him, "You say you only want what's best for me, but by doing that will create a monster that will destroy the world! I end up being the cause of the end of the world because my ghost half rips you ghost half out and they merge creating HIM! And, since my family and friends are dead and my parents are trying to kill me, HE CAN COME BACK TO TRY AND SECURE HIS FUTURE! WE ARE LITERALLY GIVING HIM A SECOND CHANCE TO EXIST!"_

_ "Daniel, your eyes, do they normally glow red? Is that why you hated me so much? Because of the future self you become?" Vlad had finally said after I had finished my rant. I looked up, startled. _Is that why I hated him? No it was because he was always trying to kill my dad. But, was it part of the reason I hated him? Maybe?

_ "I-I don't know. I think it was part of the reason. But the other half doesn't matter anymore. They are trying to kill me now…" I trailed off, I was still angry, but I startled by his questions. I could tell Vlad understood my discomfort on why I didn't want to be here when I realized the first part of what he had said. _My eyes were red?! _"They were red! No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! He. He can't. I. I. It's not. What?" I stuttered, my voice cracking in places as I held my head in my hands, rocking back and forth slightly. My eyes were frantically moving, looking everywhere, I was completely terrified. He was still a part of me. I finally realized that. My future self, Dan, was part of me, and always would be, I was one half of the solution that creates him, there for he would always be with me. Forever._

_ Vlad must have sensed my distress because he was next to me in a flash trying to calm me down, "Daniel, Daniel, calm down, we will figure something out. I promise. We can find ways to keep yourself in control. I will do everything I can to keep that from happening." He said in a soothing tone, rubbing my back still trying to calm me down. My haggard breathing began to slow after a few minutes, and eventually I was breathing normally. But I was still terrified._

_ "Vlad? How do we stop this from happening?" I finally managed to ask, my voice shaky and weak._

_ "Well, first we need to find a plan that will keep you safe and have an easy life should something happen to me. I suggest that you pick a city that you would like to live in. Any city, it doesn't matter to me, but preferably one that already has a hero or hero's protecting it, then we will deal with the legal issues of money. And finally, training. You will need to begin training yourself just in case something does happen to me." He responded with an encouraging but sad smile, almost as if nothing in the past few minutes had even occurred. But he was right. I needed to be stronger, and we needed a plan. And for my sake, it had to be a good one too._

_ I looked up making eye contact and with determination in my voice, I asked, "Ok. When do we start?"_

_End of Memory_

I smiled; it was funny how fate decided to work sometimes. I mean Vlad Masters, a.k.a Vlad Plasmius, my arch-rival, became the only person I could trust and count on. I never thought I would have seen the day where Vlad and I would be thick as thieves, but it came, and I was in awe all the time over it. I missed him. That was a once foreign thought to my mind was now as familiar to me as the back of my hand. I managed so far, and I needed to continue to move on. Vlad sacrificed himself for me, the least I can do is honor his wishes and continue to live my life happily. I looked up at the clock, 10:00pm. _I guess I should go to bed. Tomorrow will be another long and grueling day._

**GIW POV**

"Sir, are we a go for the attack?" Agent O asked the person on the on the other end of the phone. _Can we finally attack?_ We have spent countess hours watching his every move, while planning and assembling a strike force to ambush the teen. All he needed was permission to launch the preplanned attack.

"We are a go." Said the commanding officer. _Finally. The ghost boy will be ours again!_

"Yes sir. Preparing to launching attack now." Agent O was grinning ear to ear. He turned and nodded to Agent K before closing the phone.

"We will attack at noon in two days time." Was all the Agent said before turning to face the gothic café.

**Danny POV**

The next day was better, Raven had come by again, no surprise, I'm sure she still wanted to finish our conversation from yesterday. I was right, she asked me flat out as I took her order.

"How can you hide your emotions?"

"What are you talking about? Look, I just want your order. Ok?" I responded, guess that's what she wanted to know, but still.

"Herbal tea. You can hide them, I'm an empath, I can sense everyone's emotions in this room, except yours. Yours are gone, it's like when you switch emotions, they just disappear. How do you do that?" She asked/explained.

"I. Don't know. I didn't know I could do that." I answered truthfully. I was confused, but I honestly didn't know I could do that. I might have a hunch, but I doubt it was possible.

"Well you can, and it just happened again." She pointed out.

"Sorry." I mumbled. _That's interesting. Maybe a new power? No, doubt it. Maybe it was because I was half dead, possible, but I can't tell her that._ She raised an eyebrow, staring at me. "What?" She continued to stare, "Could you cut that out, it's bugging me."

"Your thinking about something, want to share?"

"Oh, so you can read minds too. Perfect." I grinned sarcastically. "And no, not really."

"Personal? I get it, I don't like people prying either." She sympathized. _No shit I don't like people prying, it's my life, not to mention anyone that hears my sad story would either kill me or turn me back into the GIW or worse, the Fenton's._ I shuddered at the thought.

"Are you a meta-human?" Her question came out of nowhere. _Was I a what?_

"Huh?"

"That would explain some things, but not others." She mumbled to herself, probably not thinking I would hear her. "Maybe not."

"James, you can go now." Tom shouted from across the room.

"Kay!" I shouted back, "So, you need anything before I leave?" I asked the Dark Titan.

"No, I was thinking about leaving as well. There are some things I need to sort out."

"Ok." I left her and headed to the back room to get my stuff, my black leather jacket in on hand and my helmet in the other and walked out the door, only to find a very pissed off Raven. I put on my jacket, wondering what the hell was damping her mood. "You ok?"

"Do you know who owns-" She stopped in mid sentence, her eyes moving from me, to the bike, to me, to my helmet and back to the bike before finally resting her cold glare on me as I put my helmet on. I flipped up the front, allowing her to see my whole face as I fastened the buckle.

"Yeah, it's mine. Why?" Her glare darkened, and I remembered why. _Oh__ fuck!_

"You own this bike! You're the one the signaled me to _call you!_" She screeched. Black energy was beginning to surround her body. I rubbed the back of my neck nervously before raising both of my hands in a surrendering position, and tried to reason with her. But it was to no avail, seeing how a parking meter melted on the other side of the road.

"Uhh, Raven?" I pointed to the other side of the street; she turned to look at the damage. I took my window of opportunity to hop on my bike and closed the front end of my helmet at the same time and started it up. I caught her glare when I looked in her direction before I hit the gas. She was still pissed. _I am so going to pay for that and this tomorrow,_ I looked behind me, o_f course she decided to follow me._ I didn't want to get involved in a high pursuit chase so I just weaved in an out of the cars in the street. I kept checking my mirrors as I drove along, she was always there, flying above the traffic. _I need to get her off my tail._ People on the sidewalks were pointing excitedly that a Titan was flying in public. I rolled my eyes, noticing a red light coming up and began looking for other ways out of this knowing that she was going to catch me. I found an alley way on the right and pulled off the street and into it. Raven followed my maneuver smirking about something. I rounded the corner to arrive on a dead end. _Fuck. _I looked behind me, Raven hadn't rounded it yet so I turned myself and the bike intangible and drove thru the wall and out onto the road. My stunt going thru the wall finally shook Raven off my trail so I could head home. I pulled in to the garage sighing a sigh of relief; however, I was now dreading going to work tomorrow. Cujo greeted me at the door, flying up to my face so he could lick it. I began my usual meditation regime after I fed Cujo and myself. I went to bed fully knowing that I was going to die tomorrow.

How right I was.

I pulled up to the café with a very furious Raven waiting outside the door the next day. I slowly took off my helmet and looked at her. She was seething, but not as much as yesterday, but I still cringed at her anger.

"Did you really think I would let you get off that easily?" Her angered tone adding to the already tension filled atmosphere. I rubbed the back of my neck while giving a nervous laugh. I really need to break that habit, but it kind of reminding me of Sam, and how whenever she got mad at me or something else, me and Tucker would get really nervous and stay out of her way until she cooled off. Of course, that brought back all those sad memories and I looked away trying to hold myself together before I broke down. I took a deep and shaky breath before looked back up at her, only to see her facial expression had changed from angry to confusion, curiosity, and slight concern.

"You ok? You went from being scared to depressed." She asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied, "Nothing to worry about at all." I rushed passed her and into the café, trying to avoid spilling my guts to her. Tom greeted me as always while I put my stuff in the back before coming out to take orders. Raven had just walked in, still eyeing me with confusion. I tried to avoid her for most part, but she eventually cornered me.

"You're lying. Why where you upset?" She questioned, not being around the bush what so ever.

"It's not a big deal ok, just drop it." I growled. _Great, like that doesn't tell her it was something very important. Gold star Danny._ I deadpanned to myself. Her eyes narrowed.

"Right, sure it wasn't."

"Stop doing that!" I hissed at her.

"Why?"

"Because you look just like her when you do that!" I exclaimed, not thinking as I shouted at her, then realizing what I just said I instantly regretted it. _Shit! _Unfortunately, she decided to pursue the issue.

"Her? Who's she?" I fell into a nearby chair, my head falling into my hands that were resting on the table in front of me. I heard a chair slide across the floor and knew it was Raven. I was trying not to think about it and hold back the tears that threatened to break the damn holding them back, only to realize I was losing that fight. "You know, sometimes talking helps." I looked up to see Raven sitting across from me with an eyebrow raised. I shook the moisture from my eyes, took a deep breath and sat up a little straighter.

"You're not going to leave until I give you some form of information huh?" I questioned, my voice shaking a little. She only nodded. "You realized that this is very out of character for you right?" she nodded again.

"Yeah, but I'm the only person here that will acctually listen to you, unless you wanted to talk to Tom. But some how I don't see that happening."

I took a quick glance at Tom, "Uhh, no thanks. I'd rather talk to you. It would be way too weird to talk to him about _this_ stuff."

"That and your emotions are so strong that it's causing me to feel the same emotions as you. It feels like I'm at a freaking overcrowded funeral and its driving me crazy." She briefly explained. _That makes sense._ "So, who is she?"

"Was. She, _was_ someone I knew. You two just happen to be very similar." _Stop talking._ "Your gothic style," _Shut up,_ "your eyes, the paleness of your skin," _Why am I still talking,_ "just to name a few, but there are some other little things as well. Just hurts sometimes to think about her, and know that she won't be coming back." I explained as if my brain wasn't connected to my jaw what so ever, and I was kicking myself by going over my past with her.

"Is that why you were a complete ass when you first met me?" _Don't respond._

"Only towards the end of our introductions. When I saw your eyes shined from under your hood." _Again, why am I still talking?_

"You liked her a lot didn't you?" I looked up bewildered, "I can sense your emotions. Remember?"

"Yeah, yeah I remember."

"So why do you talk about her in the past tense?" She asked, I had hoped she wouldn't ask that. _Shut up!_

"Because she," I paused, closing my eyes trying to stop the tears. _Finally!_

"Broke up with you?" _That's kind of true._

"In a way, yeah."_ Damn it, Danny__!_ "She's gone. And I still miss her." _Stop answering her!_

"Of course you do. It must have been hard for you. And the way your feeling, it makes the break up seem like it's the end of the world." She said. _You don't know the half of it._

"Yeah." _Awh what the hell, she already knows too much for me to stop talking now, might as well go all out,_ "But I still love her. I just wish she didn't leave me in that way." I sniffled. _It was one part of the many events that could lead to the end of the world._

"I would give you advice, but I'm not the best at comforting people, so you're on your own with that. But there was a saying that-"

I cut her off, "I know, I've heard it before. But it doesn't apply here. Trust me."

"Whatever, just try to get them under control or somehow make them disappear, it's annoying me seeing as I feel like I need to have an epic crying session."

"As if I know how to do that. And whats wrong with that?"

"Just fix it."

"Well that's specific." I said sarcastically.

" Well if you don't, this building might blow up."

"That sounds fun."

"And the asshole attitude of yours is back, but its nice to know that underneath all that attitude, you actually have a heart. Who knew." She deadpanned, causing me to laugh. She raised an eyebrow, "Well seeing as how you're now all better, you can get me my drink now. It's been a few hours since I came in. That's a very poor quality of service. I might just complain to the manager." She teased. I just rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, coming right up. Oh, and Raven?" She raised an eyebrow, "Thanks. I needed that." She nodded appreciatively. I came back to the table a few minutes later with two cups of tea, one for her and one for me.

"So, you drink tea as well? Never would have guessed." She commented as I took a sip from my cup.

"Yeah, just because I made if for my dad, doesn't mean I didn't drink it as well." I commented. I laughed as she rolled her eyes. "So, Friends?"

"No! Err... Not yet. And I'm still pissed at you for the whole ordeal a few days ago, and yesterday. Which reminds me, you want to tell me how you got out of that alley way, because I know for a fact it leads to a dead end."

"He-he," I rubbed the back of my neck before I continued, "No. That's for me to know and for you to _not_ find out." I finished smugly.

"I don't think so. Start explaining."

"No." I teased.

"No?" She questioned.

"Why don't we talk about you instead?" I was hoping change the topic, and maybe get something out of her.

"No."

"But-"

"No. End of story." I dropped the topic. It was silence for a few seconds before we continued to talking, she eventually got called out for another city destroying event.

"Guess I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked with a question. She nodded before heading out. I turned to see Tom smiling like a mad man. "What?"

"Nothing." he said in a sing song voice.

"Tell me." I demanded, glaring at him.

"Someone has a crush." he repeated his sing song tone. I clenched my fists and was suddenly two inches from his face.

"Never. Ever. Talk about my love life. Ever. Got it?" I threatened. I saw him gulp. If he had any idea about that past, he would know it was a very touchy subject. I got stuck with closing down the cafe for my little threat, but I didn't care, I knew he got the point. A few hours later I was heading home. I changed into my pjs, brushed my teeth, and laid down in my bed. I fell asleep with a smile on my face for the first time in a long while. All that venting had helped, whether I wanted to or not, but it was like some weight was relieved from my shoulders. It felt nice, being able to talk about it. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to matter seeing as how tomorrow was going to be hell to the tenth power.

The morning had gone by really slowly, so I tended to zone out a bit more than usual. Around 11:45 I took my break. Big mistake. I headed towards the break room, and ate the small lunch I had packed myself that morning. An apple, some crackers, and a cheese stick. Not much but enough to keep my stomach from growling at me. I finished it in less than five minutes when my boss stuck his head in.

"Yo, James. There are some people here to see you." He unsurely stated. I lifted my head up to see a worried and very confused look on his face.

"Who?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows together. I was very confused as well, because as far as anyone, including the government, knew; I was just a rich kid that suffered a horrible tragedy. No powers. No friends. No nothing, other than a lot of money. Tom just shrugged his shoulders. So I asked something else, "Ok? What are their names?"

"I donno. They didn't say." He shrugged his shoulders again. I raised an eyebrow behind my glasses.

"So, you don't know who they are or what they are here for? Just that they are looking for me?" using my hands as I spoke, he just nodded, so I continued, "So, can you tell me what they look like?"

"Uh, buff guys wearing all white suits?" It came out as a question, but I knew who was here. _FUCK! They found me again!_ I tried to keep my face neutral, but it wasn't working and Tom noticed. "So you know them. Cool. Come out and say hi." He latched on to my arm and dragged me out to the main room. Of all the times he decides to pay attention, I mumbled to myself, "Yeah, I know them, but I wish I didn't." Tom wasn't paying any attention to me anymore. As I was came into view for the agents their faces lit up like a Christmas tree._ Oh fuck!_

"Hey, this is James, the guy you wanted to talk to. Right?" Tom asked, totally clueless as to what was happening or the current situation. The agents just nodded, smiling with large, scary smiles. _I'm screwed._ "Cool. James say hi."

I turned to them, "Hi," then turning to Tom, I hissed thru my teeth, "Tom, get everyone out of the building. Now!"

All the agents pulled out their ecto-guns and aimed them at me, "Phantom, you are under arrest for the murders of Samantha Manson, Tucker Foley, Jasmine Fenton, and Daniel Fenton along with charges of damage and destruction of military base B54." I could see the astonished faces of all the customers and Tom, most had their jaw on the floor with eyes the size of dinner plates. _I'm so screwed._

"You're-a-murderer?" Was all Tom managed to get out.

"No, but you still need to get all of the customers to exit the building for your own safety." I glared at the agents as I spoke while shifting into a defensive stance. _This is so not going to end well_. People began to be quickly escorted towards the exit, all giving me looks of surprise, anger, and fear. Tom was still wide eyed as a lower rank agent dragged him out of the room. And eventually the building was empty with no one but me and the white suit men in front of me, most guarding all the windows. We stared each other down for what seemed like an eternity before one of them spoke, breaking the silence.

"Are you going to come quietly?" The agent asked. Ecto-guns began to whiz as they began to charge up.

"No." I said flatly, "Why would I subject myself to more torture and misery for something I'm _not_ guilty of?!" I shot back, venom overpowering my voice. I saw only ten agents, so I could get away without my ghost form, though I would prefer not to have to fight, but that looked like it was going to be out of the question. I quickly formed a strategy; step one, dodge all blasts from high ranking officials, step two, take out all the lower rank agents, step three, don't get angry. The last one was going to be difficult. One agent fired a blast early and I went flying backwards into the wall, containers and dishes clattering all around me from the impact. I got up snarling, summoning my cane to my hand, I charged.

Almost immediately, they began to open fire as I ran towards the weaker agents. _This place is going to be in ruins by the time I leave._ I knocked two out as I ran, close-lining them with both arms. I spun and whipped my cane down and broke the third guys knee, flipping over him and came down hard with my cane to the left side of his neck. He fell to the floor unconscious taking a table with him. I ducked as I caught a glowing fist in my peripheral vision come near my head. I could feel the heat from the glove as it flew over my head. _Great, supped up versions of the ghost gauntlets. Just perfect._ I swung my cane to his floating rib and landing a solid front kick to the solar-plexus, he bent over trying to catch his breath when I finished him off with my cane, swinging it around my head in a shielding motion and connected it with the side of his head.

CRACK! I winced at the sound of his skull crunching, _Oops, that was too hard,_ but it effectively launched him onto another table five feet away, taking it to the floor with him along with a loud crash. He wasn't going to be moving for a long time. _Four down, six to go._ The other six agents began to regroup, trying to find a way to take me out. Agent K sent three more after me, two pulled out ecto-staffs while the other charged his gauntlets. I slid under the two staffs, blocking their attacks with my cane before I popped off the floor, tackling the guy with the gauntlets to the floor sending a full forced punch to the face before flipping off him, grabbing a nearby chair with my other hand, turning to face the staff agents. We circled each other for a few seconds until staff guy on the left charged me. I rolled my eyes behind my glasses. I flicked my wrist and launched the chair at him, sending him to the ground with a thud. My smile didn't last long as I felt a sharp pain in the back of my knee, back, and the back of my head. The other guy had landed a three solid hits on me with his staff. I fell to my knees, dropping my cane and turned to looking up at him, rage coursing through my veins. Danny was gone. In his place was the insane monster of a kid that they had created. For me, everything slowed down, I sized him up and determined his threat level to me before evading his finishing blow to my head, sweeping the floor with my foot, taking the agent down, grabbing my cane I jumped onto my feet and then, grabbing my cane, I slammed it down on his chest with an animalistic roar. A small smile escaped my lips as I was happily rewarded with the multiple sounds of his ribs cracking, laughing as the hacking sound of him coughing up blood shortly followed. I then turned, ready for the next attack, a sadistic smile plastered on my face. The rage on the third guys face was almost comical as he began to attack.

We were launched in a whirlwind of strikes and blocks, both of us were breathing hard. He was defiantly better than the other five. He began to strike over the top of me, only to fake and strike low, knocking me off my feet. I landed on my back, hard as the air was forced out of my lungs. Trying to catch my breath as I saw the final blow coming down, I dodged rolling to the side. _He tried to copy my attack!_ I glared at him, that wasn't going to happen again. I flipped up only to be knocked back down with a blow under my chin, and landing on a table. He grabbed my cane and ripped it from my hand tossing it to the other side of the room, and disappeared until I called for it again. He jumped on top of me only get a kick in the gut with both of my feet and thrown over me and on the floor with me landing on top of him shortly, begin beating him mercilessly. There were small pops and cracking sounds from the now limb body below me, as blood was soon flowing from his all different parts of his face. His nose, skull, mouth, ears. _God how I want to kill them, all of them._ I was thrown off before I could finish the job and rolled on the floor next to the big window, standing up to face the last three agents, it was then that I felt _him_ taking over and trying to get out. I gasped as I realized I had gotten mad. _No! That shouldn't have happened, he can't take over! Not now!_ I was interrupted from my sudden mental freak out by the pain that exploded across my jaw and sent me flying. I heard something shatter, the small stings from the glass cutting me on my way thru the window, the pain bringing back my sanity.

The last thing I heard was the screeching of tires before my entire body erupted with unimaginable pain. Then, I blacked out.

* * *

**Well? What did you think?**

**Chapter 6 should be up soon, unless I decide to go editor crazy on it and rework it a million times like I did for this chapter. So yeah!**


	6. Haunted Memories and Hallucinations

******Yay! First chapter in the new year! Hows your new year going? Good? Bad? Same as last year? **

******Well anyways, here is the new chapter for you!**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Raven POV**

The past week was very interesting. First, this beastly, no not the right description, more like monster thing attacked at the warehouse, and then found out the only reason that I lived was because this new hero in town saved me. And according to Robin, his name is Eidolon. Eidolon? Is it just his name, or is that what he really is? And a few days later, Beast Boy decides to infect Cyborg with a virus because he wanted to play some stupid video game that he downloaded, and I'm betting it was an illegally downloaded too. Stupid Changling. And during that whole ordeal, some loser on a motorcycle had the _nerve_ to tell me to call him. That just pisses me off. I mean seriously! I didn't tell the team, I would have never heard the end of it if they knew. Then the whole deal with James is just all over the place, I swear his goal in life is to piss me off! First, he makes me my tea, perfectly I might add, Tom never taught him, and when I decided to ask him about it, he just dodges my questions until his shift was over, then I find out that he own the bike from the previous day! Oh! Hell! No! I swear I thought I was going to kill him. Of course he took off on his bike after I yelled at him for it, then he literally disappears in the dead-end of the alley way while trying to get away. Like, where the hell could he have gone! I ended up confronting him the next day, only to realize that James wasn't as big of a jerk as his first impression led me to believe. He was actually a nice guy, behind his whole asshole façade he always has out front, and some of his sarcasm was admirable, I guess. It was nice to hear it from someone other than myself. Azar knows Beast Boy's jokes are beyond horrible. Sometimes they are so bad that I wish I was deaf. Yes they can be that bad. Of course that was what really caught me off guard was that under his entire attitude that he puts on, he was actually a decent guy just with a heart and major emotional issues…

_Flashback_

_"You're lying. Why where you upset?" I asked, his emotions were all over the place, radiating like a bomb just went off, it was way too much to handle, but I couldn't just ignore it either._

_ "It's not a big deal ok, just drop it." He growled at me._

_I narrowed my eyes, _he's defiantly hiding something,_ "Right, sure it wasn't."_

_ "Stop doing that!" He hissed._

_ "Why?" Now I was just curious._

_ "Because you look just like her when you do that!" He shouted at me. He instantly felt regret after he said that, I wanted to know why, and hopefully the emotions swirling around the room would disappear if I could get him to talk._

_ "Her? Who's she?" He collapsed into a nearby chair, cradling he head in his hands. I slide a chair across the floor and joined him at the same table. I was drowning in his emotions, the heartbreak and remorse that was coming off of him was so bad it was to the point I was beginning to think that I was going to burst into tears. As I spoke, I put up a mental block to stop his emotions from forcing mine to break free, "You know, sometimes talking helps." _

_ I saw him look up to see me sitting across from him. He blinked a couple of times, most likely to get rid of his own tears threatening to expose themselves on his face. I heard a deep breath and watched him sit up a little straighter before he finally spoke, "You're not going to leave until I give you some form of information huh?" I just nodded. "You realized that this is very out of character for you right?"_

_ I nodded again before responding, "Yeah, but I'm the only person here that will actually listen to you, unless you wanted to talk to Tom. But somehow I don't see that happening." That looked like it would be true, he needed help, and I really didn't feel like having an epic crying session because of someone else's emotions going haywire._

_ He snuck a glance at Tom, "Uhh, no thanks. I'd rather talk to you. It would be way too weird to talk to him about__this__stuff."_

_ "That and your emotions are so strong that it's causing me to feel the same emotions as you. It feels like I'm at a freaking overcrowded funeral and its driving me crazy." I explained to him, "So, who is she?"_

_ "Was." _Was?_ "She, __was __someone I knew. You two just happen to be very similar." _We're similar? _"Your gothic style, your eyes, the paleness of your skin, just to name a few, but there are some other little things as well. Just hurts sometimes to think about her, and know that she won't be coming back."_ _He explained. _Am I the reason he feels this way?_ His emotions surprised me though, he was sad thinking about her, that was no surprise, but why was he angry with himself?_

_ "Is that why you were a complete ass when you first met me?"__ I asked, I was wondering if my hunch was correct. I was hoping that it wasn't._

_ "Only towards the end of our introductions. When I saw your eyes shined from under your hood." __So I am the reason he freaked out the other day._

_ "You liked her a lot didn't you?" He looked at me, surprised by my observation, not that is was an observation as much as I could actually feel how much he loved her, "I can sense your emotions. Remember?"_

_ "Yeah, yeah I remember."_

_ "So why do you talk about her in the past tense?" As soon as I had asked that, I knew I shouldn't have, but he surprisingly answered._

_ "Because she," He stopped._

_ "Broke up with you?"__I finished for him, assuming that was what happened._

_ "In a way, yeah. She's gone. And I still miss her." _So she broke his heart. That explains a few things, but not why he would feel remorse and guilt. Why is that?_ I knew however I shouldn't ask that. Not yet._

_ "Of course you do. It must have been hard for you. And the way you're feeling, it makes the break up seem like it's the end of the world." I sympathized. There was probably more to this story, but I shouldn't push._

_ "Yeah. But I still love her. I just wish she didn't leave me in that way." He was sniffling as he said that. His emotions, which were dampened for a while, had flared up again. They were just as strong as when they first hit me._

_ "I would give you advice, but I'm not the best at comforting people, so you're on your own with that. But there was a saying that-"_

_ I didn't get to finish as he interrupted me, "I know, I've heard it before. But it doesn't apply here. Trust me."_ Why would it not apply? _I opened my mouth to ask why, _Don't push, let him tell you if he wants._ I told myself._

_ "Whatever, just try to get them under control or somehow make them disappear, it's annoying me seeing as I feel like I need to have an epic crying session." His emotions were now speaking through me, I felt bad about how that came out too._

_ "As if I know how to do that. And what's wrong with that?"_ More than you would think.

_ "Just fix it."_

_ "Well that's specific." His old attitude is back. _Joy_._

_ "Well if you don't, this building might blow up."_

_ "That sounds fun."_ Not really.

_ "And the asshole attitude of yours is back, but it's nice to know that underneath all that attitude, you actually have a heart. Who knew." I deadpanned, earning a laugh from James. I just raised an eyebrow, "Well seeing as how you're now all better, you can get me my drink now. It's been a few hours since I came in. That's a very poor quality of service. I might just complain to the manager." I teased. He rolled his eyes before getting up._

_ "Yeah, coming right up. Oh, and Raven?" I looked at him, "Thanks. I needed that." Giving an appreciative nod I watched him head over to the kitchen to prepare my drink. Only he came back to the table a few minutes later with two cups of tea, one for me and one for himself._

_End of Flashback_

James was full of surprises, hopefully we wouldn't have another heart to heart talk, I wasn't in the mood for one, I was hardly in the mood for that one, though I did say I was going to be their today, it was almost looking like that wouldn't happen, just not in the way that it played out. Cyborg was finally over his "cold" and we were all going out for Pizza. _Whoo_-_hoo,_ I deadpanned mentally. Hopefully there would be no fight over what kind of pizza we would get, but I didn't really have any high expectations. I sighed as we got into the T-car, sitting in my usual seat behind Cyborg as he drove, heading towards our favorite pizza joint. After a few minutes of driving, it felt like a bomb went off in my head from all the emotions that were radiating from the people on the street. _What the hell? Why are all these people angry, sad, and scared? _Then I saw Tom. _What is Tom doing? He should be running his café._

"Cyborg, what time is it?" I asked, I was curious about why Tom wasn't running the café.

"It's just a few minutes before noon. Why?" he asked back.

"No reason." I said flatly. _Why wasn't he working. His emotions were full of confusion, fear, and a hint of sadness. Why? It's all directed at, James? WTF did he do this time?!_ I was then bombarded by new emotions. Some were anger and frustration, but mostly pain. All directed at James. But the strange thing was that I couldn't feel James's emotions. Not that that was strange, but I could tell there was something wrong. Way wrong. I was trying to figure out why, looking out the window as we were getting close to my favorite café, hoping I could get some answers as we went by. The big window shattered as something, or rather someone, went crashing thru it. Time began to slow down; I could see the glass shards sparkling in the light as they floated in the air, watching in horror as a person was flying across the street, this person was not hitting the ground anytime soon, but instead they were going to hit the car, our car first.

"CYBORG WAT-" was all I could get out before the body collided with the left side of the hood and bumper. Time sped up again. Cy slammed on the brakes, but he was too late. I heard Star and BB scream while Robin was bracing himself for the worst. I heard the tires of the car screech as Cyborg lost control of the car, and we began to drift, the back-end of the car moving to the right and up over the curb of the side-walk. The person continued to travel along the car rolling onto the windshield with a sickening crack, and nearly shattering it and making it impossible to see out of. Its momentum continued over the top, I could hear the heavy thumps as the person rolled along the roof of the car, before slamming into the wall of the building on our right, falling limply into the gutter.

"HOLY SHIT!" Cyborg screamed as the car came to a halt after a complete 180, now facing the non-existent oncoming traffic. Robin was asking if everyone was alright, but that didn't matter. What mattered was the person that we just hit. Everyone was out of the car and over to the battered and broken body within seconds. As we got closer to the motionless body, we figured that it was a man just by his size alone. There was no way the he could have survived and we all knew that, we were going 45 at least. I could feel Cy's emotions. It was painful, he just stood there, trying to take in that he just killed a man, and hoping that it was all a nightmare. I couldn't blame him, the entire team was feeling the same way. Some guy just died, and it was our fault. The sight of the poor soul was heartbreaking itself, just to see him like that, face down half way on the sidewalk and the street, hanging over the curb in the gutter. His limbs were twisted in all sorts of angles, blood slowly flowing out from the gashes he had along his body, his cloths were ripped, and he was covered in bruises that were just beginning for form. We all knew he was dead, but Robin still flipped him over to check.

We all gasped, a man was one thing, but a teenager. A kid that hasn't even got to live his life yet. That was who was laying in the road. Emotions had just tripled with that horrid fact. After that shock, I was noticing small things, his hair was blond, blue highlights, the cheek bones were just as similar, _He almost looks like…_ My heart stopped. _James._ "No." I whispered, pain and despair in my tone. I knew him. I knew the kid in the street. It was James. _No, he can't be!_ Robin, still holding his fingers to his neck, gave me a confused look. I normally don't say anything, but this time I did, and it hadn't gone unnoticed.

"I know him." I whispered. Robins eyes widened behind his mask, while the emotions that were floating in the air just doubled from my statement. Star was now bawling as well as Beast Boy, Cyborg was silently sobbing as his one human eye had a small stream of tears flowing from it. I could feel my eyes begin to water, and I shut them, forcing them to seal the water away. When I opened them again, Robin was facing away from me again, but I could still feel his grief for the dead kid.

"No way." All of our heads snapped up at the sound of his voice, "He-he has a heartbeat. He's still alive!" Robin gasped, we all looked at Robin, wondering if we were hearing things, "But he's dying. He needs medical attention, now!" Without a second thought, I immediately moved towards James almost lifeless body, summoning my energy, and transported all of us back to the tower and into the medical bay. We didn't have a lot of time and he was fading fast, so we hooked him up to an IV and heart monitor. Robin, Star, and BB went back to the accident site leaving Cyborg and I to help James. Cy tore off most of his cloths so we could worked on setting and wrapping the breaks. There was a lot of them too, mostly rib bones, but his spine and skull had a few fractures as well. After those were done, Cyborg moved on the leg and arm bones while I clean the gashes and wrap them with anti-bacterial solution to prevent infection. I couldn't help but stare at the intricate scars that traced his body, knowing more were going to be added to his collection They were so faint it was like they were almost invisible, but I could see them. Most looked like battle scars, but some were more complex as they wrapped around his body in unnatural ways, ways that shouldn't even be possible unless it wasn't by accident. The bigger ones, those that seemed to have been from gashes, the thickness of them what confused me the most. I looked up to Cy, wondering if Cyborg could see them as well, but he didn't say anything. The main scars covered his sculpted chest and abs seemed more precise, too perfect to be from accidents or battle scars, same with a few on his arms and legs, but what were they from?

I forced them out of my mind for the time being and began working to try and heal as much internal damage as I my magic would allow. I was barely able to stitch everything up with my magic, but it was just enough to keep anything serious from happening. He was still going to need to be watched at all times. It took a few hours before we were done. He almost looked like a mummy with all the white gauze and casts all over him. Of course, now it was a waiting game. Either he would pull through, or not and his vitals were leaning towards the latter. But, for Cyborg's sake, I hoped he would make it.

"Cyborg. It's not your fault." I said, trying to comfort him, I wasn't good at this, but he needed to know that. He just nodded, but I could still feel his guilt, the pain, and sadness. I kept thinking back to those scars. _What were those from? How did he get them? When did he get them?_

"Raven? How are you still holding yourself together? I mean you said that you know him." I just looked at Cy. He did have a good point, but it was because I couldn't lose it right now, there was too much at stake.

"I do. His name is James. He works at the café I like to go to. But if I broke down now, something else could happen to him and i wouldn't be able to help, and right now he needs us to be strong so that he can get better." I finally said, but before Cy could respond his arm beeped with an incoming transmission.

"Cyborg, you there?" Robin's voice came through the communicator on his arm.

"Yeah, I'm here. What's up?" His depressed voice responded, not even bothering to look at the screen in his arm.

"We need you to get down here. I don't think it was an accident." Cy's head snapped up, his eyes now focused on the little screen in his arm, the possibility of it being an attempted murder had commanded his total attention, "I think he was thrown into the T-car. Starfire is on her way to pick you up." Robin stated. His emotions immediately changed from depressed to complete rage. I was feeling exactly the same way. We saw the small dot that was headed towards the tower, knowing that it was Starfire.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." He stated, turning to face me.

"Go, I'll be here. Robin will understand why I'm not there." I responded. If anyone was going to be able to help James on short notice, my powers would, and I knew enough about the basics of medicine to help. The metal doors opened with their normal hissing sound, announcing that someone else was in the room with us. As Starfire approached us I could see the hardness in her eyes and hatred displayed across her face. I didn't have to be near her to know she was feeling the same emotions as us. Pissed. Someone tried to kill an innocent kid. I was pissed too, but I knew this person, I had talked to him, learned things about him. I wanted to know who did this and why! No matter what did James did, he didn't deserve this. Sure, he wasn't my friend, I couldn't let someone in so soon after what Terra did, but that doesn't mean James, or any kid for that matter, deserved this kind of cruelty. I watched as Cyborg left the building with Starfire. I turned around and headed back to the medical bay to observe the sleeping patient. It was going to be a very long and depressing day.

I looked at the monitors again, only to notice that even though his heart rate had steadied, but it was still low, like lower than the average rate, around 47 bpm. Adding that with his unnaturally cold body temperature of 78.6 degrees, I could have sworn he was going to be dead within the hour. I even triple checked his vitals the old fashion way; my fingers to his neck for his heart rate and a normal, glass tube thermometer for his temperature, just to make sure it wasn't a faulty wiring in the machines James was hooked up to. As worried as I was about this, he was slowly but surely getting better, even with these anomalies going on within his body. _How is this even possible? Would Cyborg would know? Well, I guess I was right, he is a meta human. I mean if he is still alive after that, then… No, he would have to be. No normal human would have survived._

I was still lost in my thoughts when everyone else returned to the tower, Robin filled me in on what had happened based on their observations at the site. "The Café was completely trashed, Raven. And who ever _was_ there, left after James was thrown through the window."

"It must have been one hell of a fight, but it could have been multiple attackers as well. I mean, the place was in ruins. Multiple tables and chairs were broken, there was burn marks everywhere, not to mention the damage to the window. And did you see the blood? At least one person was severely injured." Cy started to explain.

"It still makes no sense. Why would anyone attack James? I mean sure he has a jerkish attitude, but other than that, he is a decent guy." I said. Cyborg had told them I knew his name, which help them when they were investigating with the cops and some witnesses. So far, all we knew was that he was attacked, thrashed a café, my favorite cafe, _Yeah, I'm so pissed at that, but what happened to James is far more important,_ and hit our car though some people claim that they saw a group of guys leaving the café after I had already transported up to the tower. With what we had to go off of, these guys where wearing all white clothing. It wasn't much after that, but Knowing Robin, he was going to pursue this case with more effort then earlier ones. I would be right with him, but I was having a difficult time just believing that James was the victim I was beginning to see him as an almost acquaintance, someone else to talk to other then Tom. But adding what we know from the crime scene and the info I gave the team for James's strange vitals, we pieced together that he was a meta-human just trying to live a normal life. I mean, there are some of us that don't want to use our powers; some just want to be normal. But what were his powers that caused him to be targeted? He one of the few meta's that didn't want powers, meaning the person that attacked him knew he was a meta that didn't use his powers, but what about his powers and how did those powers make him so important?

"So what do we do now?" BB asked.

"We shall find the one's guilty of this, this horrendous act and they shall be punished!" Star shouted, her eyes glowing green from her anger.

"We need more information. I'll have to look up who this guy is. The only other person that could have possibly known about James," Robin paused, deep in thought before continuing with a hiss, "would be Slade."

"Dude, Slade died, remember? Terra took him down." BB stated.

"It doesn't matter. Slade could have hired them to grab James. We should be assuming and preparing for the worst." He said, slamming his fist into his other hand, "For all we know, the attackers could try to strike again and we need to be ready." Robin argued, before turning around and leaving the Medical Bay. He was right. If someone did attack James, and they could attack again, and we needed to be ready.

It must have been a few hours before the alarm went off. _Great, now what?_ Robin had located the site to a side of a mountain highway passage. None of us wanted to leave James in the tower alone, so Cy set up the quarantine protocol in the med room only, giving us some peace of mind as we left the tower. When we got there, some of the higher end guards were already there trying to hold off Cinderblock. Starfire attracted his attention by launching a few starbolts at him.

"Drop it Cinderblock, before we drop you." Robin threatened. The stone golem just threw the truck in our direction instead of backing down. Using my powers, I caught the vehicle, encasing it with my magic, and tore it apart as Robin charged the Golem. We unleashed a myriad of attacks against him. Starfire used her starbolts; BB was a dinosaur, Robin using his staff, and Cyborg with his sonic cannon. I used my magic and watched, I saw Cyborg get slammed to the ground in a crater. As Block-Head was about to crush him again, I grabbed a large claw and attached it to Cinderblock, trapping him and attempting to push him back. Starfire assisted me by throwing more starbolts trying to break his concentration, but it failed as he sent both of us flying backwards and into the ground. I regained my head as Robin went flying off the cliff. The others saw it, and we formed our line again, this time we were taking Cinderblock down for good.

We charged. It was a fast fight that ended in an explosion, Cinderblock was unconscious and we were ok. Cy checked his arm, gave us a nod and we headed off to the woods to find Robin. Thanks to Cyborg's heartbeat scanner, we located Robin, now all we had to do was catch up to him.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt you little nature hike. BUT, WHERE WERE YOU! WE HAD TO FINISH OFF CINDERBLOCK BY OUR SELVES, IN THE RAIN, AND-" Beast Boy started, sneezed turning into an elephant, "great, now I've got a cold."

"Slade. He's back." Was all Robin had to say. That was bad, really bad. Could James be in even more danger then we previously thought.

"You sure it was him? I mean, you kinda had Slade on the brain lately and-" Cyborg reasoned, or at least tried to.

"It was him, he going to try to create a massive earthquake and we have three hours to stop it." Robin interrupted. _But, I thought he would be after James?_ _Why would he try to trigger an earthquake? Could it be a way to distract us so he could go after James?_ I asked myself, it was definitely possible, and something Slade would do, but he couldn't be alive. It wasn't possible.

"I don't get it; the dude fell into a _pit_ of lava. Who lives thru something like that?" Cy shot back.

"Apparently, Slade." I said. I was not sure anymore.

"Yea, just like James was hit by the T-car and he's still breathing." BB started, we all glared at him, _he wouldn't dare finishing that sentence if he knows what good for him!_ "Never mind. But Slade. He's pretty- pretty-" BB sneezed three times before finishing his sentence, "slippery."

Robin gave us our orders, I had to head to the park to find the generator or whatever it was. All I wanted to do was go home and sleep. Hopefully James was safe because we were still searching for the generators and he was attacked again, we wouldn't be able to protect him. And we still needed to find out who attacked him. _What about Tom? He would know what happened and who attacked right? Did anyone see who it was or should I talk to him later, after the whole generator issue. The generators are more important._ I arrived at the park, and no generator. _Great, thanks Robin. This is a waste of time and I could be back at the tower trying to contact Tom and healing James, who is still in danger and unable to defend himself from his mystery attackers._ I pulled out my communicator to contact Robin and tell him that there was no generator here. Apparently I wasn't the only one who came up empty handed.

BB, Cy, and I met in the middle of the city and were waiting for Starfire and Robin to join us for a new strategy.

"I looked everywhere. I think Slade sent us on a wild-"

"Goose chase?" I finished BB's sentence while he was in a sneezing fit.

"Can I please go lie down now." He finished as his nose began to drip.

"I had my scanners do a complete sweep of the cities seismic faults, there all clean. I'm thinking that all this seismic generator stuff is just another one of Slade's tricks." Cyborg said, he was obviously frustrated. We all were.

Starfire showed up, but alone, "I am not so certain Slade is behind this." Star countered Cyborg, her voice full of innocence.

"What happen? Where's Robin?" Cyborg questioned.

"Robin has, elected to search, on his own." The alien spoke, sadness in her voice.

"Huh? Why?" BB was sick and now confused. We were all confused now.

"He said he saw Slade. I tried to see him, I truly did, but I could not. I have never seen Robin so angry. So angry at me." Star explained. _Robin can see Slade but we can't. Is that even possible? Cyborg's scanners are never wrong. What is going on?_

"Let's go find Robin." Cyborg said, determined to put an end to this Slade business.

**Danny POV**

It was strange. The floating in and out of consciousness. I could never reach the surface though, like a kid who barely misses the cookie jar by millimeters. I was that close; I could almost make out the sounds of voices and machines, sometimes a blurry image from a small crack in my eyelids. Then it would all disappear and fade back into the black darkness of sleep and exhaustion. I couldn't think. I could only wait for the black nothingness to finally leave me alone. I hoped it would be soon, but I wasn't getting any high expectations. I was stuck in this, this void of unconsciousness and pain. The pain was everywhere. Why was it everywhere? I couldn't remember what happened, or who had made it happen. I could barely feel the chilly sensation that would be the healing abilities of ghostly self, or I hoped that was it. Sometimes the blackness would leave me, but it would be replaced with a memory of my past. A past I wasn't thrilled to relive any time soon either. The blackness took over again after what seemed like mere moments, but something different happened. I could hear the voices more clearly, but I could only make out a few of them.

"No... Make... End..." I hear other pitches, tones, but nothing else came thru. I must have faded back to the swelling blackness of nothing. I don't know how long it was but the voices where back. I could make out more words, but it was like a puzzle, they didn't make sense.

"Last... Chemical... System... Harm... Alone... Dying..." Same thing again with the voices, different tones, pitches, and volumes. I had a general idea of what was happening though. The GIW. I was _their_ prisoner, again! Finally being able to semi think in this thick black haze, I know that when I wake up, they were going to wish they never took me back to their lab. Whatever they had put into my system was going to be gone soon, I could tell. They held me under so many times I have figured out how to tell when the medication was wearing off. The blackness was getting lighter, and the ability to think was getting clearer and clearer with each passing minute. I was beginning to be able to sense other things as well; the change in the light, slightly better hearing, taste, smell, touch. I could feel that I was on a bed, but I wasn't strapped down. That's a major a mistake on their part. Slowly, I was becoming more conscious. That was good. Very, very good.

**Raven POV**

It had been a very long night, and day after the whole Slade thing going on with Robin. I couldn't get a hold of Tom, and with the café being closed, I didn't know what else to do. Cyborg had called us down to the Medical Bay. Apparently it was urgent because Cy was practically flabbergasted as he spoke. We were all standing in the medical bay, staring in complete and utter shock at the rate James was healing at. Most of his casts had been cut off, seeing as they were no longer needed, and all of his gashes and bruises where gone completely, as if they were never there._ It wasn't possible. To heal that fast._

"Dude, how does someone live though an accident like that, and heal as if it was nothing?" Cyborg asked, his voice in awe and surprise.

"I don't know, it doesn't seem possible." Robin said, "But it does mean someone was after him. But why?" The alarm sounded, red flashing lights flooding the room, "Titans, trouble."

We rushed to the main room, looking at the screen. A jewelry store was under attack. _Great, just what we needed. We needed to monitor James, he could wake up at any moment, and I know he is going to be very confused as to where he is._ "I'll stay here."

"Friend Raven, why do you wish to stay?" Star questioned.

"I can sense that James is going to wake soon, and a familiar face will most likely keep him from freaking out when he does." I answered in my usual monotone voice, staring at the main doors. I could feel his energy, it was growing stronger, and he would wake soon. I looked to Robin, hoping that it was ok I stayed behind.

"Good idea. Raven, you stay and inform us when he does wake up. Everyone else, move out!" Robin called as he rushed out of the room, the others closely following his lead. I just nodded, heading to my room for newspapers from Tom, as well as some of the notes Robin took while at the crime scene, and the new info that was faxed to use a few minutes before the robbery was already in my hands. I was going to read while I waited. I might as well do some form of research while I waited for him to regain his consciousness. I hadn't even mading halfway to my room when I felt an enormous amount of anger and rage emanating from James.

"He's awake!" I gasped. I hear a loud crash from the hall. _No! They came back!_ I was flying now, my papers long forgotten I opened the doors to his room and saw the destruction. The walls were cracked and holes going thru some of them, machines were on the floor, broken metal and wires sparking. The beds were flipped over, one broken in half, one of the two IV stands had been speared into the ceiling. I had expected that, what I didn't expect was for James to be the one that had caused all of the damage. I watched in shock as he lifted the bed that was still in one piece and threw it towards an untouched wall, nearly breaking the wall itself. He then noticed me, and I saw the hatred in his eyes. His eyes froze me on my spot; I saw them for the first time without his shades on. They were an electric, icy blue. He held our eye contact for a split second before he lifted another IV stand and threw it at me. I dodged, then encased him with my magic and pinned him to one of the lesser of the damaged walls.

"Oh, so now you decide to restrain me. If you idiots had any brains what-so-ever, you would have done that the moment you captured me!" he taunted, venom spitting from his tone. _What is he talking about? We never captured him? Why would we restrain anyone unless they were hurting themselves, like Robin was under the drugs of Slade's mask?_ My thoughts were cut short as he spoke again, "What, didn't like the insult?"

"What are you talking about? We didn't restrain you. We are trying to help you." I tried to reason.

"Help? Help!" He scoffed, "That's what you are calling it now! Wow! That is the biggest fucking lie I have ever heard you damn agents call my imprisonment!" _What the hell? Agents? What agents? Are these agents the ones attacking him?_

"What agents? And why are they attacking you?" I questioned, trying to keep my voice at a reasonable tone. He almost seemed insane, and I wasn't going to rule it out just yet.

"What? Oh I see, you're not an agent, you're one of their so called _doctors_." He began. _Doctor? What the fuck is going on? Why is he acting this way? Doesn't he know who I am?_

"James, don't you recognize me?" I began, only to be interrupted by him.

"Why would I bother to learn which _doctor_ is which? You are all the same. Using me as your damn science experiments time and time again. So where are your tools, or were you planning to give me the anesthetics this time?" He hissed. The hatred in his eyes was so strong I could practically feel it.

"What would I be giving you anesthetics for?" I ask. I was completely baffled, he was defiantly insane. But apparently that was the wrong question to ask him. He roared in anger, shouting at me. It wasn't that I was ignoring his words, even though I could hear them in the background but that my mind was being bombarded by images, thus blocking out most of what he was shouting.

Images that seemed to be coming from him and all his anger. The flashed quickly, but multiple times as I was able to see what each was showing. The first was of two people, adults by the looks of it, one in a teal and black jumpsuit, the other in an orange and black jumpsuit. We were in some form of living room, I was on the ground, with three different weapons being thrusted into my chest before the image changed to an all white room, looking very similar to our own medical bay. I was laying with my back against a table, wet dripping sounds and a few people standing in front of me, looking at me curiously as if whatever they were doing was very important. For some reason I knew this was painful, but I couldn't feel the pain. The next was a city, all destroyed, and in the center was a man with faded teal skin, white flames for hair, a white goatee, fangs and a forked tongue, crimson eyes, and an intricate black and white outfit and white cape and a familiar black D-like emblem on his chest. He was laughing like a mad man as he continued to destroy the city. The last image was that white room again, only this time, it was filled with the same two people from the first image, aiming their devices at me and letting out burst of green electricity towards me. I gasped as the images ended and I was able to catch the end of his rant.

"-AS IF THAT WASN'T ENOUGH, ALL OF YOUR TESTS WERE JUST AS CRUEL, EVEN IF YOU WERE TO GIVE ME ANESTHETICS, WHILE TREATING ME AS A SPECK OF DIRT FROM YOUR SHOES JUST FOR YOUR OWN AMUSMET!" He roared. To say I froze would be an understatement. My powers faltered for a second. When I finally regained my head, I was outraged. _They did what to him! No person should ever go thru that ever! And no medication?! Are they insane! They tormented an innocent boy because he was different! That is beyond cruelty, that's torture!_ I finally realized why he was the way he was, why he was finally snapping. He has been on the run from these people because of what they have done to him. The rest of the team needed to know this. Immediately. I pulled out my communicator and proceeded to call Robin when he started up again. "Calling for back up, I would assume. You must be new if you thought you could hold me down by yourself…" I don't do this often, but it needed to be done so I knocked him out. I winced as he fell to the floor.

"Raven. Did he wake up?" Robin asked calmly.

"You need to get back to the tower, _now_." I demanded. I saw his confused expression and continued, "This is more important than then the jewelry store losing a few diamonds. Trust me."

"Why? What happened?" He questioned, again, this time more worried.

"I can't explain it now, and I won't tell you over the communicator, it's something that needs to be discussed privately." I explained.

"Ok, we will be a little while, we have hostages, again. It's a little more difficult than last time."

"Fine. Just hurry." I hung up, then turned to the boy on the floor. James was groaning as he sat up.

"What happened? And where am I?" he asked, his voice groggy.

"Uhh, you're at Titans' tower." My mind was now buzzing and he doesn't even remember. _Does he not remember the last five minutes?_

"I'm where?" He said while looking around the room, he face changed from confusion to complete terror "I didn't just. No, I couldn't. What did I say to you?"

"Don't you remember?" I asked.

"No, that's why I'm asking you." He growled. I was worried when he said that.

"You went on a rampage, destroying the room, shouting about _agents_ that you hate so much? And what or who are the _doctors_?" I explained, _had I hit his head too hard._ He was afraid; I could feel it radiating from his body.

"I-I told you everything, didn't I?" he looked away as tears began to form in his eyes, "Damn it!"

"Not everything, I know enough to know that you were tortured. But I want to know why? We can help, but you have to let us." He ignored what I was saying, but turned to me before he pleaded.

"Look, you can't tell anyone what happened, please. Don't."

"Why? If you tell us we can-" He just cut me off.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone what happened in here. Promise me you won't tell anyone the truth." He pleaded with a more demanding tone, before cradling himself in a fetal position rocking back and forth muttering to himself, "They can't know. No one can know." _What exactly did they do to him?_

I felt more helpless then I ever thought possible, watching him rock back and forth muttering things about being found again, what would happen if they came back, hoping know one would know the truth. What I thought was a big and capable teen had been reduced to simply just a terrified kid who had been abused almost beyond repair. I needed to try and calm him down somewhat, with one hand I reached out to his shoulder and attempted to stop his rocking motion while speaking to him at the same time, "Hey, hey, it's okay, I won't tell anyone. It's going to be ok. We are going to help you. We will keep you safe from these people. Ok." I comforted him. He didn't want anyone to know what ever had happened to him, but if I wanted learn more and possible try to help him, I was going to have to earn his trust and I could already tell it wasn't going to be an easy task. He relaxed a little and looked up at me, a small gleam in his eyes but only for a second.

"How do I know I can trust you?" He demanded, his shaking frame and terrified demeanor was now rigid and cold, as he backed away from me, his eyes never leaving mine.

I told him the truth, "What happen to you is against the law. It goes against the meta-human acts."

"No, it's not. Not for me at least." James said sadly, looking around the room again. _How could it not apply to him? He has powers, therefore he is under its protection. Right?_ I noticed one of his faint scars on his arm and I remembered how they traced over his entire body.

"Those scars, the agents did that to you, didn't they?" He just nodded as I asked, "Can I ask why?"

"Because, I'm different. Because, I'm a threat." He looked at me with a blank face. I realized there was no danger and I could be scarring him with my hood still on, so I reached up to take it off. He flinched back before my hand was half way to my head.

"It's ok, I'm just putting my hood down. See no big deal." I pulled my hood off my head and looked him in the eyes again. Bad idea. I was immediate hit with a range of emotions a second later. Pain, anger, heartbreak, guilt, all coming from James.

"Sam? No... Not-not possible... You-you... I-I watched... I-I watched them... It... You... You're..." James stuttered frantically, not finishing any of those sentences, while stumbling backwards, surprise and fear coming over his face. I looked at him, appalled. _What has this guy gone thru?_ I put my hood back on, hoping it would help. I think it did, a little.

"Hey, hey, calm down. It's ok." I was trying to comfort him, and it wasn't going well. I needed the rest of the team here. He had gotten up and was trying to get away from me, tripped and fell to the floor, hard. I winced again when I heard a small crack as his head hit the floor. I rushed over to him, making sure he wasn't hurt that bad. I sighed in relief that he was just knocked out again. But now, _where do I put him?_ The med bay was in ruins. _The living room?_ I guess that was the only place that would work. I sighed as I used my powers and transported us to the main room and laid him down on the couch. My communicator beeped so I answered it.

"Raven, is everything ok?" It was Robin.

"Define okay?" I asked, worried how this night was going to play out. I already needed to try and figure out what I was going to tell the team, and I knew that I couldn't tell them much, but with the little information that even I had, it was going to be difficult and I needed James to trust me enough with the rest.

"What happen?" Robin demanded. Though there was some slight concern layered in there as well.

"Well, you will just have to see for yourself. Oh, and _we_ are in the living room?"

"Can I ask why?"

"I'll explain when you get back to the tower. Trust me, what you'll see, it's not going to be what you think happened."

"Okay, see you in a few." He said, turning to inform the rest of the team before the call ended. _They are so going to believe that the attackers came back after one look at the med bay. I'm screwed._ I deadpanned to myself mentally. A few minutes later, the team was running thru the doors to the main room. I didn't have to see them to know what they were thinking.

"What the hell happened in the medical bay?!" Cy shouted.

"Did they come back for him!" Robin was pissed. _Yeah, it looks like that._

"Err… Why is he sleeping on the couch?" Beast Boy noticed.

"Please, friend Raven, explain why the room of medicine is in ruins? And why is not friend James sleeping on the couch?" Starfire asked, trying to ease the tension of the room.

"Look. Is the med bay destroyed? Yes. But it's not what you think happened. It's not _what_ he did to it; it's _why_ he did it." I growled. They all stared at me, even more confused than before. "James is the one that destroyed the room. Not his attackers." They had no idea about his past, and I knew there was going to be anger in the room the second I told them about it. They all gave me confusing looks. I sighed.

"Why did he do it?" BB asked, "And how did he do it? I mean, didn't he get run over like 24 hours ago?" I was steamrolled with guilt from Cyborg, sorrow from Starfire, and anger from Robin. _Way to go Beast Boy. You just had to bring up that detail in front of Cyborg, reminding him that he hit James with the T-car. Again!_

"Look, I also think he might be at least partially insane" They looked at me puzzled, "judging from his past."

"Ohhhhh." They all said at the same time. I mentally face palmed.

"What happened in his past to make him go insane?" Robin asked.

"I don't think he is completely insane, at least not yet, but he is defiantly on the borderline. I don't know all the details yet," I turned to Cyborg waiting for his rage to boil from the mention of the medical bay being in ruins, "But judging from what he did to the med bay, I would have to say it wasn't pretty."

"So he decided to take it out on my tower!" Cy exclaimed. I took a deep breath, steadying myself for what I was about to tell them. I know I promised James, but they needed to know more. They needed to know, well partly know, why he did it.

"That's not important at the moment. Raven, did he say anything while he was, uh, being destructive?" Robin inquired. He was getting impatient.

"Yes. But, you guys need to keep a level head until I'm done explaining, because it's not pretty." They all nodded, then taking a deep breath, I began, "The people that attacked him are agents, to what agency I don't know, but, I think it's safe to say that they experimented on him. Without anesthetics." I saw all of their faces turn into bewilderment, then turned to horror, then anger for Robin and Cyborg, and Starfire was almost in tears. BB on the other hand, was still confused. Realizing that I had to dumb it down for him, I explained again "_NO_ numbing medicine." anger creeping into my voice. Everyone was speechless, now that Beast Boy was caught up. I wasn't planning on them being very talkative after the small amount of news I just presented them with either. I did promise James that I wouldn't tell them everything, I needed his trust to tell me the rest but my team needed something.

Robin finally spoke after a few minutes, "THEY-DID-WHAT-TO-HIM!" he paused after each word. I just nodded as his anger was now drowning me. "That goes against all the Meta-human acts! They basically tortured him as if he was a lab rat!"

"Dude! That's horrible! What kind of people do that to an innocent kid?" BB asked. Starfire was streaming tears now, her hands over her mouth. I didn't think she was going to be talking anytime soon.

"He must have thought he was back in their labs, that's why he freaked isn't it?" Cy concluded as he finally spoke, his voice full of sorrow and pain.

"That would be my guess. Whatever they did to him must have been horrible because he was a one man army when taking down the room, screaming incoherently about his past and how he is different so those acts don't apply to him." I said, I decided to stop there; they didn't need to be overloaded with images that I was assuming to be his nightmare of a past. Then the room was filled with more rage then I thought possible. I nearly collapsed at the sheer amount of emotions flying around the room.

"What do you mean they don't apply to him! They apply to every meta human all over the world!" Robin exclaimed. Everyone had taken and unconscious step backwards as Robin seemed to get angrier by the second. No one wanting to answer either, I know I didn't, so he just continued to fume.

James's groggy voice cut through the tension filled silence, "No, they don't. If they did, would I be siting on a couch in _your_ tower?" We all turned to the now conscious kid on the couch as he sat up and stared at us with a blank face.

"Were you ever going to tell someone?!" Robin exclaimed, his voice rising in volume and pitch with each word.

"Why would I, no one would believe me. Besides, it would be the word of one teenager, me, against the word of an entire organization. Who do you think the public is more likely to believe?" He argued back. He brought up a very good point, no one would. "So when can I leave. I do have a life and I would like go back to living it, if you don't mind."

"You can't, not yet at least. It's only been a day since your" he hesitated, "_accident_;" struggling to get that word out, "you should stay here for more observation." Cyborg simply stated.

"And not until we find and take down the people that attacked you!" Robin finished.

"So, my choice was already decided for me. Wonderful." He sarcastically commented before he mumbled something quietly to himself. The emergency light went off again. This time it was somewhere in the mall.

"Titans, trouble. James. Stay here. It's safer for you." Robin ordered. James rolled his eyes as he reached for the remote turn on the TV while the rest of us rushed out of the tower.

* * *

**And scene! Review, or don't, doesn't matter to me, but reviews are greatly appreciated, though I'll never beg for them, I promise. I'm just glad you read my story. That's all that matters to me. So, I guess I'll see you guys at the next Chapter. Oh and Happy New Years to everyone!**


	7. Aftermath

**Soooo, whats up? Its been about a week since last time, right? Well I think I did a good job on getting this chapter done in a timely fashion.**

**Thank you everyone that reviewed! I read all of them, even if I don't respond to the questions, I do read them. I literally have a specific folder for all the email alerts I get from your reviews. No, I'm not joking either.**

**Well, here is the next Chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Danny POV**

I remember waking up in a white room. Then, nothing. If anything had happened, it was sucked down a black hole somewhere in a dark corner of my mind never to return to my conscious thoughts again. I had a feeling I did something bad, though. Really bad. I awoke again, this time in more control of myself and a screaming headache, "What happened? And where am I?" I asked, pain shooting thru my head at every word, and my chest was prickling just a little bit as I breathed. There was something constricting my breathing, but I didn't focus on it. Everything was blurry, colors and light blending with each other with black rimming the outskirts of my sight threatening to swallow the rest of my vision again.

"Uhh, you're at Titans tower." A girl answered. It took a second before I could place the voice. _Raven?_ She sounded confused. _Why is she confused?_

"I'm where?" I said, my vision clearing up, I looked around the room. I was first confused, the room looked as if a tornado hit, then I understood. _It happened again! No! _I had another "episode" and from the looks of the room, it was a really bad one. My mouth didn't close like my brain ordered it to, "I didn't just. No, I couldn't. What did I say to you?"

"Don't you remember?" Raven was puzzled, that much was clear. I turned my head towards hers as she said that, my mind snapping back into focus as I stared at her half covered face.

"No, that's why I'm asking you." I growled back. In the past I had Vlad to help me out with this sort of thing, he would just go ghost and calm me down, all the while just saying it wasn't my fault or that it was going to be okay. I stopped counting how many times I lost my control to an episode after Vlad broke me out of the labs. It was always from the simplest of things that triggered the episodes he would tell me. After he calmed me down, he would hold me like any worried father while trying to ease me out of my mental state and being careful as to not trigger another attack for the hour while my mind was still in shock from the hallucination. But he was gone; I had no one that knew how to handle them. How to handle me. I was in danger, no, I was a danger, and from my own mind with a hair pin trigger that would release another attack with the slightest of suggestions.

"You went on a rampage, destroying the room, shouting about _agents_ that you hate so much? And what are the _doctors_?" She asked with a worried tone. _No, no, no, no! I said that in my hallucination! Fuck! This isn't happening? This can't be happening? Not again! No, no, no, no!_

"I-I told you everything, didn't I?" I looked away from her, not wanting to see the hurt that was being displayed across her face. I could feel the water forming in my eyes, threatening to break loose, all because she now knows. _She_ _knows!_ "Damn it!"

"Not everything, I know enough to know that you were tortured. But I want to know why? We can help, but you have to let us." I tried to listen to her, but my thoughts kept running and rerunning through what she told me a few seconds ago, _She knows! No!_

"Look, you can't tell anyone what happened, please. Don't." That was the last thing I needed. I didn't need more people getting involved in my history. My past. It never helps. Only hurts. It always hurts.

"Why? If you tell us we can-"

"Promise me you won't tell anyone what happened in here. Promise me you won't tell anyone the truth." I interrupted her, I wanted, _no_, needed_. _I _needed_ her to promise me she wouldn't tell. I didn't want anyone to know the truth. No one should know the truth, it would only bring _them_ back. Others would get hurt. It's better this way. It always is. "They can't know. No one can know." I was cradling myself now, rocking, trying to forget everything. The pain. The torture. Everything. I kept talking to myself like nothing else mattered. Because it didn't, right? "If they find me? What then? What would happen? Can't go back. I can't. Not there. No one can know. Even if they hurt. But no one can know. Even if they're evil. But no one can know. They can't know, no one should ever know." I muttered to myself. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder, stopping my rocking motion as a voice broke me out the nervous breakdown that began to threaten triggering another episode.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, I won't tell anyone. It's going to be ok. We are going to help you. We will keep you safe from these agent people. Ok." I looked up at her, smiling before I realized where I was again. I instantly pulled back and scooted away from her, glaring. _Lies! I can't trust her! I can't trust anyone! They always betray me! Always!_

"How do I know I can trust you?" I demanded. I couldn't trust anyone, ever. They were always taken from me or betrayed me in some way. Always.

"What happen to you is against the law. It goes against the meta-human acts." She just stated the obvious truth, well what she thought was the truth in her mind.

"No, it's not. Not for me at least." I must have sounded depressed because I could feel the sadness in her gaze. I tore my eyes from her and began looking around the room again. I couldn't believe she was still trying to figure me out. _Why? Why was I so special? So special to them anyways? I trashed the café, destroyed their medical bay, and most likely damaged the street I was launched into._

"Those scars, the agents did that to you, didn't they?" I looked in her direction as she spoke, and nodded before looking away again, "Can I ask why?"

"Because, I'm different. Because, I'm a threat." I turned to look at her. Her hand was beginning an upward motion that I knew all too well, so naturally, I curled myself tighter bracing for the impact of pain that would soon follow. I could still feel the effects of my previous episode in the corners of my mind. Needing a solid hour before it would wear off and the slightest thing could trigger it again and that can't happen. Not again. Her voice broke through my silent thoughts.

"It's ok, I'm just putting my hood down. See no big deal." I watched her as her hand reached the hood and pulled it off then looking me in the eyes again. I froze. _Sam! No! She looks just like her!_

Trigger pulled, episode restart.

She quickly covered her face but it didn't help, the damage was already done, I was in another hallucination and there was no stopping it now that it was triggered again. I blacked out for the second time within the day. How long was I out this time? I didn't know, and I didn't think I wanted to know, but I could hear voices again, someone was shouting angrily, "What do you mean they don't apply to him! They apply to every meta human all over the world!"

Slowly I began to regain my head. There was a pause after one of the questions, apparently trying to get my back-story down. _Great. They now know everything. This is why I don't tell anyone! They never keep their promises. Never!_ I guess I surprised them when my tired voice broke their silence, "No, they don't. If they did, would I be sitting on a couch in _your_ tower?" They all turned, eyeing me with the most hilarious facial expressions. Though with my head still being a little fuzzy and the hour cool off time resetting itself, I didn't laugh, just stared at them, my face emotionless. Two was enough for the day, I didn't need to add a third one to the count, and I'm sure they didn't want to see me in one either. Raven seemed to be wondering the same thing, worry all over her face before it went back to its unemotional state.

"Were you ever going to tell someone?!" Robin exclaimed, his voice rising in volume and pitch with each word. _Wait, did she tell them everything? Or did she keep her promise? Hmm, if so, I'll have to thank her later, assuming that all they know is that I was abused a little, not a dissected frog in a class of seventh graders._

"Why would I, no one would believe me. Besides, it would be the word of one teenager, me, against the word of an entire organization. Who do you think the public is more likely to believe?" I shot back. _Why would I even want to tell anyone about my past? No one cares; or they do care and get hurt. Some even look at me like I'm a freak anyways, so why bother_. _Uhhgg, I don't want to talk about this anymore, I can feel another episode twitching around just begging to get out,_ "So when can I leave. I do have a life and I would like go back to living it, if you don't mind." _That should work._

"You can't, not yet at least. It's only been a day since your," the metal guy hesitated before he continued, _"accident;_ you should stay here for more observation." The robot teen said; sadness in his voice. _Why are you so upset about me being attacked? Why would anyone care about that? I'm a freak, a monster and according to the general public, evil, so why are you helping me? You'll just throw me out when you learn the "truth" anyways._ My thoughts were immediately interrupted by Robin.

"And not until we find and take down the people that attacked you!" He finished. _Really? I have to stay here until you learn the truth? Wow. Just perfect. So now it's a time bomb until you get the fake crap that the rest of civilization believes. Yay me._

"So, my choice was already decided for me. Wonderful." I deadpanned, then quietly mumbling to myself, "then again, when I consider my other option; I could be on a dissecting table, so, I guess being trapped in the Titans tower isn't all bad …" I made sure that my voice was too quiet for them to make out the words. I jumped an inch when some red flashing light along with a siren went off in the tower. The Teens ran to the big screen, before turning to me.

"Titans, trouble. James. Stay here. It's safer for you." The Boy Wonder ordered. I just rolled my eyes, holding back a laugh as I reached for the remote and turned on the TV. The others rushed outside to the mall that was in danger. They were gone for a little while and that was all I needed. I had to stay away from them, not just for my safety, but theirs as well. I could seriously hurt someone if I got too out of control. Vlad had told me that one time I had gone ghost I was so angry in my episode. I don't remember any of it though, none of them. And you would think that I would have remembered at least one out of the hundreds right? He had said it was really bad in the beginning, right after he broke me out. It was like every other word would cause me to lose it. There are some days I don't even remember, weeks even, because I was triggered the entire time. _Stop thinking about it. We don't need another one today._ I banished the memories from my mind as I watched the TV. I think I watched a solid hour of some infomercial before the team came back. What the hell took them so long I had no idea, but that was instantly cut short as the warm smell of melted cheese, lightly toasted bread, and greasy meat filled the room. _Pizza._

"Yo, James! We got dinner while we were out, you hungry?" A deep voice boomed. _When was the last time I ate?_ My stomach answered the question for me, very loudly I might add, and a second later I was almost dragged to the counter for the gooey food. Within seconds, I was bombarded with questions, or rather one question as a fight broke out between Cyborg and Beast Boy.

"No grass stain, he is a big boy and wants _meat_!"

"No way dude, he is on my side and wants _veggie_! Dude, you know I have been half of those animals!"

"Meat!"

"Veggie!"

"Meat!"

"Veggie!" Their arguing continued, and after a few minutes, a headache began to form. I was growing annoyed by their fight, I just wanted it to stop. It hurt too much to listen to them yell about which is better. Closing my eyes as I was reminded of my friends. It hurt just thinking about them. I couldn't take it anymore.

"QUIET!" I shouted, slamming my fists down on the table, causing a few plates to jump a few inches up in the air before landing with a clatter. I was breathing heavily, but it was an angry breathing, not when you're actually out of breath. I clenched my fists into tighter balls as they pushed against the table as I stood up, my face most likely turning different shades of red. Everyone was now staring at me in fear or shock, I didn't bother to figure out who was sporting which, I just wanted to go home. "Would you just _shut_ _up_! Do you know how childish you sound! Bickering over what is better! God its giving me a headache!" and with that, I reached for a few slices of pizza, a mixture of veggie and meat, picking up my plate and taking it out of the room with me. I roamed around multiple hallways for a while, finding a nice wall, sank to the floor and ate my food in blissful peace. Of course it was interrupted minutes afterwards.

"You okay?" I looked to the sound of the new person in the room. _Raven. What a surprise. Of course she would come check on me._

"Yeah. I'm fine." I growled, looking back at my plate. _I just wanted to be alone. No, I just wanted to go back to my house. But nooo, that wasn't going to happen because Robin wanted me to stay here thinking that it was 'safer'. Yeah right. If the GIW wanted me, they would attack, no matter who I was with. I could be with the president of the USA and they would still launch a full scale assault to take me down._

"No. You're not. Didn't something similar to this happened a few days ago?" She questioned, sitting on the floor across from me.

"Just go away. I don't want to talk about it." My voice cracked in a few places, tears filling up in my already closed eyes. I heard a sigh next to me, opening one eye, I looked over at Raven. She had an eyebrow raised, obviously waiting for me to start talking. "Not going to happen."

"Really? That happened last time too."

"Well not this time it won't." I said forcefully, standing up, I walked back to the kitchen to put the dish away. The loud room fell silent as I re-entered. I looked over the room once before heading to the sink and placing my dish in it, rinsed it off and placed into their dishwasher. I turned around to see four faces staring at me in confusion.

"What? Never seen a teenage boy clean up after himself before?" I questioned, I was getting annoyed with their gawking. Silence. _Okay, apparently not._ "Since I'm not allowed to leave your tower, can I have a room to sleep in? Or should I just crash on the couch?"

"Uhh, we though you should stay in the infirmary for the night, just to make sure your completely healed." Cyborg said nervously.

"NO!" They all jumped at my unexpected shout. "I mean, I would rather not if that's okay. Bad memories." I was rubbing the back of my neck, my gaze directed at the floor instead of them.

"Yeah, no problem. But we should re-wrap you before we get you into a room, you bandages need to be changed." Robin said. I lifted my head to reach their gaze, _what wrappings?_

"Huh?"

"You know, from the accident." Robin continued. I just stared at him.

"What accident?" _What the hell are they talking about?_

"You- You hit-" he stuttered, unable to comprehend my question, "our car? That's why you're here?"

"What? I never hit a-" Thinking back to the attack, I heard the screeching tires. _Was that them?_ "Wait? I hit your car?" They just nodded slowly. "Oh, sorry about that." I mumbled sheepishly.

"Yeah. You went flying thru a window and hit us. And that's okay, I just have a few more fine tunings before the car is all fixed." Cyborg simply stated, "Let's go change you bandages now." He obviously didn't want to talk about that, so I didn't push. I followed silently. Raven just walked thru the doors, watching us curiously.

"Oh, Raven. Want to help me change the bandages?" Cyborg questioned. She looked at Cyborg first, then me, back to him and nodded and began to follow us. I raised an eyebrow at that. Reaching the destination, they helped me into the room, more like forced me into the room seeing how I was shaking with anger and fear being in the room again. Getting me to just sit on the bed was going to be even worse. I felt like I was back at their labs. I didn't like that feeling, all the memories of what had happened while I was there. I was shaking even more violently then before.

"Hey, it okay man, we just want to take them off. We aren't going to hurt you. I promise." The robotic teen softly and sincerely said. I just glared at him. _He didn't just say that._

"Why don't we just change them out in the waiting room instead." Raven interjected. I softened my glared just a little at her idea. Though it was better than this room, it was still near this room.

"Good idea." I was at the door before they could turn to begin walking towards it. Cy grabbed the roll of gauze that I knew he wasn't going to need, and met us in the waiting room. I looked to Raven, she was worried. At least I think she was worried. It was hard to tell with her emotionless face while she was staring at me. Cy came thru the doors behind us, he feet clinking every time he took a step.

"Alrighty then, James, you just need to take your shirt off so we…" He trailed off as I glared at him.

"It's okay, he's just going to remove the wrappings that are holding your ribs together. You broke a lot of them when you hit our car." Raven said, placing a hand on my shoulder. I almost flinched away from the contact, giving her cold glare. I knew that there was something around my chest, I could feel them underneath my shirt and every time I breathed I could feel the constricted motion of my rib cage expanding. Cyborg's eyes widened for a split second at her motion. I looked at Raven, reluctantly nodding in agreement with what he needed to do. I turned my icy gaze back to the cybernetic teen, and pulled off my shirt so he could unwrap me. I watched his every move closely, anticipating a wrong move. If he did something I didn't like, he was going to be out cold on the ground and I was going to be gone before Raven could even figure out what had happened. He had finished with the last layer of wrapping, and placed them on a bench before reaching for a new roll.

I took a step back and he moved to try and re-wrap me, "I don't need it." I stated, glaring as he continued to get closer.

"Yes, you do."

"No. I don't. A simple x-ray would tell you that much, but seeing as how I'm not going back in there, you wouldn't believe me." I stated, almost bored.

"Fine, I'll scan you right here then." I jumped back and into a fighting stance as a blue light emerged from his arm and scanned my whole body. "Dude, you have to stay still for the scan."

"Fine." I huffed as I slowly relaxed my body, returning to a normal standing position. The blue light traveled over my still frame again, though I was still uncomfortable with the whole situation. And no, it's not because Raven was there. She has already seen the scars that litter my body, most likely when I first arrived here after I was hit with their car. No, I just wanted to be left alone, to be alone. It was safer for everyone that way.

"Wow. You're all healed. I mean, like completely healed." He said in awe. I just huffed, _yeah so what I can heal myself. No big deal._

"Told you. Now, can I put my shirt back on and go to a room. I'm really tired and would like to sleep if that's okay." I grouched. He nodded, but Raven led me to a spare room, apparently she was hoping that she could get me to talk. That wasn't going to happen, so we just walked in silence.

"Here you go. This is the code to lock and unlock the auto doors. If you have any questions, just call for one of us with the speaker on the far left wall." She said, handing me a slip of paper with a four digit number on it before turning around to head to her room. I watched as she eventually disappeared around the corner before entering my room. It was a decent size, about the size of my room back at my house. A large bed, either a queen or a king sized, in the right corner of the room, a large window that almost took up the entire back wall, blue carpet, basic dressers and furniture, and the walls where a dark bluish color as well. I walked over to the window and forcefully shut the curtains. I didn't any unwanted eyes looking thru the window, not that it would help for thermal scanners, but binocular wise, it would work. I turned to the bed, examining the sheets, the frame, its shape. Grays and blues seemed to be the theme in the room, and I was perfectly fine with that. I undressed to my boxers and crawled into the bed. The soft feeling of the sheets like silk against my coarse skin, the mattress like giant marshmallow plush comforting my body at it's every curve, and the pillows like a fluffy cloud for my aching head. I instantly fell asleep, like I was in heaven, though it didn't last long…

_I was strapped to a table, waiting for the new wave of interns to come and slice me open like a frog, only to see the Fenton's enter with a bunch of new tools and weapons, behind them, a small cage holding the only person left in the world that could possible help me and understand what I was going thru. Dani! Captured and awaiting the same fate as me. I watched in horror as they strapped her terrified figure to the cold steel, tears streaming down her face as she tried to plead with them. I heard the slapping sound of flesh on flesh, and the room was suddenly quieter only the whimpering sounds of Dani as they bind her to the table with the ghost proof cuffs._

_ "It's okay Dani. I'll get us out of here, Dani. I promise." I would try to say to her, only it would never leave my mouth, her body shaking in fear as she watched my parents, no _them_, prepare the tools for the experiment. They, however, would just snicker and giggle from excitement as they now had two ghost to cut into. They started with me. Always. Ripping off the top of my suit, and bringing the glowing green scalpel to my chest. I could hear Dani as she screamed, watching my agony._

_ The would only turn to her and say, "Watch closely ghost girl, this will happen to you next." Then just cackle and her emotions that displayed across her face would explode into multiple different expressions, waiting and watching what I was going thru, knowing she was next. The scalpel would finish it's pattern before I would scream out in pain. Feeling the liquid drip from my chest, I weakly turned my head to Dani, my eyes showing so much pain and sorrow, showing her how sorry I was that this was going to happen to her. The would finish with me, turning to her table, and begin the same procedure. I would watch in horror as the green substance, the ectoplasm, our blood, would begin to pour from her tortured frame as the scalpel would begin, a scream of terror and suffering escaped her lips._

_ I would roar protectively, and wake up._

I awoke sometime around 2 in the morning, screaming from my nightmare. My hands having a death grip on the sheets around me, cold sweat slowly dripping off me, my heart feeling like it was going to jump out of my chest, the heavy panting being the only sound in my room, all the while I was sitting straight up in my bed with my eyes darting around the room, searching for any danger. I released one hand full of cloth only to reach for my chest, feeling for my chest trying to find the throbbing sensation in my scars. Sometimes, I could still feel the knife splitting the skin across my chest, feeling the tingling sensation as my blood would run down the sides of my body and pool beneath me when I would wake up from some of my dreams. I had this one a few days ago. I laid back down, knowing it was going to be useless now that I was awake, to fall back asleep.

BOOM!

I literally jumped three feet in the air as the door was blasted off its track and landed in the middle of my room with a loud crash, and followed shortly by the Titans fearfully screaming my name.

"James!" they called. I was still in shock from the door being busted down, that I didn't respond right away. Lights came on and I dove for the pillow, burying my face in it trying to get rid of the blinding pain that was following the shock of a quick room lighting change. I slowly pulled my face out of the pillow and sat up, only to meet the bewildered faces of five teens next to my bed. I was dazed, tired, in pain, and almost naked, so I did the natural thing, I gave them a death glare before I attempted to shout at them.

"What the hell?" It only came out as a mumble while I rubbed the sleep away from one of my eyes, "It's like two in the morning."

"You screamed? We thought- we thought you were in trouble? We thought they came back for you." The leader finally said, getting over the fact that I was still in the bed, perfectly unharmed.

"It's called a nightmare dumb-ass. I assumed that you would have taken into account that with my messed up life, I might have them every so often. Apparently I was wrong. I guess that's why you should never assume, because it makes an ass out of you and me." I growled, the sheets still in my one hand being gripped even tighter. Ok, so they were checking up on me and making sure I was still safe and I probably scared the shit out of them, but still, if they were going to do this every night, we were never going to get any sleep. And that was a fact.

"So, you are okay? Yes?" Starfire asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I am now." I grumbled, looked down at the foot of the bed, "You can go back to bed. I'll be fine."

"You sure, man? I mean, it must have been bad if…" Cy trailed off.

"I'll. Be. Fine. I just want to go back to sleep." I hissed thru my clenched teeth. The team reluctantly left the room after a few minutes of debating. Raven replacing the door on its hinges as she left, giving me a knowing glance that she was going to try to get me to talk about what happened. _Yay. Another talk,_ I thought as I face planted into the pillow groaning.

Surprisingly, I did get a few more hours of sleep, but around five, my ghost sense went off as a green blob began to attack my face with wet, slobbery kisses. "Cujo?" I whispered. He yapped happily in response. "Hey boy, good boy. You coming to check up on me?" He licked my face again as I scratched his head. "Hey boy, you want to go for a run?" He was floating as his tail wagged a mile a minute. I got up and, after searching for cameras and finding none, I changed into my ghost form and invisibly, Cujo and I left the tower for my house to get his leash and for me to put on my workout cloths before a jog around the city. I dropped him back off at home before I headed back to the tower. I landed in my room and changed back before I decided to head out for a shower. I entered the hallway and looked around, hoping for a sign. Not finding any, I walked by every door, looking at the letters painted on them. Finally finding my destination, I entered quickly locked the door and turned the water on. The hot water sending the relief to my tense and sore muscles while I washed the sweat and fear from myself. I was done within ten minutes, and with a towel wrapped around my torso, I left the bathroom and walked briskly back to my room. I found my cloths in the bag I had brought with me and changed into them. I had washed a load while I was at my house, and dried them while I finished the other half of my work out in my room. Then I folded them and placed them carefully in my arm before flying back to the tower. I felt much better now, leaving my room for the kitchen and breakfast.

I entered only to be stared at by the three occupants in the room, Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg. "Hi." I said and waved before headed to the kitchen that was on the right side of the living room. I could feel their eyes on me the whole time as I walked over the fridge and opened it. I pulled out a few things, and navigated around the kitchen finding all the necessary dishes and appliances I would need to make myself breakfast. Not wanting to take all of their food, I made myself two eggs and two pieces of toast, while waiting for the kettle to heat up. The toast popped up first, grabbing then and placing them on a paper towel, I buttered them and put some blackberry jam on them. The eggs were finally cooked to perfection, so I scooped them out and on a small plate adding a pinch of salt and black pepper. About half way thru breakfast, the kettle whistled so I found a small cup and added the herbal tea mix to the water before pouring myself a cup and walked back to my seat. I could still feel everyone's eyes on me as I finished my meal. I got up, taking my dishes to the sink, I washed them and placed them back in their proper places while I poured another cup of tea. When I was satisfied with my work, I turned and headed to the couch with my second cup still in my hand and began to watch some TV.

After about five minutes of the three teens gawking at me, I turned to them, "What?" I asked in a very annoyed voice.

"You just…" Robin started.

"Yeah, so?"

"Well. It's just. You just." Cy stuttered.

"Yes, I can cook. Yes, I can do my own dishes. And yes, I drink herbal tea. Anything else?" I was getting very annoyed now. The just shook their heads no, Star, who had been quiet this whole time floated over to me, curiosity in her eyes.

"My friends had asked me to not ask you this while you were still doing the recovering but," she took a deep breath before continuing, "who-are-you? What's-your-favorite-color? Where-are-you-from? How-did-you-get-here? And-do-you-wish-to-be-my-friend?" she asked at a speed even I had a hard time to understand while at the same time, invading my personal space bubble.

"Uhh… what?" I asked, backing away from her while she just tilted her head in confusion. "Oh, you want answers. Okay? Uhh, James, anything darkly colored, Wisconsin, I, uhh, walked, and no."

"Oh." She deflated, landing on the floor, obviously hurt by my last answer. Normally I don't feel bad about being mean, but she just looked, well, so depressed.

"Look. I know your upset, but I'm just trying to keep myself sane, and all of you safe. If it got out that I had new friends that were helping me, they would get hurt. I don't want that again. I-I can't go thru that again." I turned away, looking at the floor. I could feel the eyes of the team boring into my back.

"But, were the Titans. They wouldn't-" Cy started. I spun on my heals as he began, interrupting him.

"They don't care! To them, you're just," I shouted, looking back at the floor I finished quietly "Never mind. Just. Just leave me alone." The silence lasted a long time, Raven had walked into the tense room, only to look at all of us very confused. Cyborg got up and explained to her what just happened. Robin finally broke the awkward silence.

"James. Why? Why do they…" Robin was cut off by the new channel as breaking news floated across the screen. I turned around to face the large flat screen, only to pale at the words written across the screen.

The anchorman began his speech, "In other news, today marks the three year anniversary of the tragedy happened in Amity Park when four teens, Jasmine and Daniel Fenton, Tucker Foley, and Samantha Manson," pictures of the four of use placed on the screen as each name was said, "were cruelly murdered by the notorious criminal, Danny Phantom." Phantoms photo also appeared, "The GIW have launched a nationwide search for the criminal and have asked the public if you do spot him, to not engage, he his very deadly. Instead call the number on the screen and to leave the area as soon as possible. The Fenton's had no comments at the time but have released a new statement saying that, Phantom can change his appearance and to not be fooled by his trickery…" He droned on about what had actually happened and how the whole town was gathering at the park to honor our deaths. I couldn't move. I knew they blamed me, but to make it a nationwide search? I was screwed. They knew. They knew that the Titans where holding me and that this would get them to turn me in.

"Titans. If this monster shows his face in the city, I want him brought in or brought down." Robin ordered, angrily. Cyborg and Starfire were both on the same page, angry as hell. Raven looked a little pissed as well. I was frozen, then I was pissed. What Robin had ordered hit me. _Monster! Monster! Oh, he did not just go there. I may lose it sometimes, but I'm not the monster that killed the only people that cared about me._ I felt the tears of anger leave my eyes, and I quickly spun around and left the main room. I couldn't listen to this anymore. I growled as I ran into Beast Boy on my way out of the room.

**Raven POV**

James just turned around and stomped out of the room, tears spilling down his face. I caught the rage emanating from him as he left. I turned back to the screen. _Four teens, murdered. I can see how he would be pissed, but why was he crying?_

"Dude, what's his problem? BB asked as he entered the room. Robin and Cy just shrugged. The pictures of the four kids reappeared on the screen for one last goodbye when Beast Boy's jaw dropped to the floor.

"DUDE! Raven, she looked just like you! Since when did you have a sister?!" BB shouted. I jumped, then looked at the TV. My eyes widened. She did look like me. James's voice rang thru my head as I remembered out little conversation back in the café. _Her Gothic style, her eyes, her pale skin. Samantha. Her name sounds familiar... Wait, when James freaked, he said the name Sam. A nickname for Samantha. No! She couldn't be... _I couldn't close my mouth before the words exited it, "Oh my god."

"What? Rae, what's wrong." Cy asked, concerned.

"The girl. Sam." I whispered. The pieces were placing themselves for me, _That's her. That's James's girlfriend. She didn't break up with him, she was murdered. Oh my god._

"What about her?"

"She- I need to go." And with that I left the room, an angry conversation about James broke out in the background. I understood now. I understood why he was so upset. She was murdered and they haven't caught the killer yet. I figured he was going to be in his room. If he wasn't there then I had no idea where he was going to be. I guess it's luck that I heard his curses from the other side of the door, telling me he was in the room.

"James?" I called, knocking on the door. It got real quiet, real fast.

"Who's there?" he almost whispered.

"It's Raven. I want to talk to you."

"Well I don't."

"I know about Sam. I know that she wa-" The door flew open and I was pulled inside, before the door slammed shut.

"How do you know about her!" he demanded. I'm sure I moved back a little at his tone. He was angry, the tear stains on his face made it difficult to believe his anger. His emotions that were all over the place; rage, heartbreak, pain, remorse, guilt. I could see it clearly, he was still grieving for her loss, and the loss of the other teens who I assumed he knew as well. Most likely his friends.

"I figured it out. You said I was like her, and the other day, and when you freaked out you said her name. I understand now why you were so upset." I spoke softly. He was hurting. It had been three years and they just shoved her murder back in his face. He sank to the floor, cradling himself again. I didn't really know what to do, maybe I should get Robin or Cy to handle this.

"I still can't understand why? Why did they have to die? What was the point?" I looked at him confused. "I mean I see it all the time, when I close my eyes, I see it again. And there's nothing I can do about it." He just whispered to himself again. _His nightmare. He watches them die over and over every night!_

"Your nightmares. Is that what they are about?"

"Not all of them, but that is the one I have the most often."

"And last night?"

"That- that was one I don't want to happen. It was one that is formed of my own fears, one was if I was ever taken by them again. Last night's was that kind. To see- see her- on the-" he was getting choked up thinking about it. _Wait, what? Her? Sam's dead. Who is this new girl? What?_

"Her?" He looked up at me, his face had hardened.

"Don't ask." I just stared, confused. "I know that's what you're thinking about. Don't ask. I'm not going to tell you. So don't ask."

"I-I wasn't?"

"Liar." He said as he stood up, and walked out of his room leaving me alone with my thoughts. _What the hell just happened?_ I watched as the door closed behind him. This was something I should report to Robin. Only when I entered the main room, a full blown argument over the news was still in progress. _Seriously._

"Quiet!" I shouted. They all stopped and looked at me. "Now that I have your attention, there are some things you should know."

"Like what?" Robin asked, obviously not being able to resist the pull of new information.

"James, and the girl, Sam. She was his girlfriend and-" I didn't even get to finish my sentence as the sorrow of the rest of the team hit me full force.

"His girlfriend? Oh man, poor guy."

"Dude, that's horrible."

"Yeah, I know, but it gets worse." I stated.

"How could it be worse?"

"He watched them die, and his nightmares are mostly just that, re-watching their death." The room fell silent. Everyone was now either wide eyes or about to burst into tears. The silence lasted for a few minutes, Robin opened his mouth to say something when the doors to the main room opened and James walked in. Everyone, myself included, turned to face him, watching as he went to the sink and got a glass of water.

"What?" He growled, "I'm thirsty."

"Dude, we know about your friends." BB sadly spoke.

"Yeah man, we sorry about your loss." James just looked at the floor, setting the glass down on the counter.

"What do you know?" he asked suddenly, looking up at us.

"That Sam," His eyes narrowed at Robin, "was your girlfriend and that your nightmare are of her and your friends dying." His glare moved over to me. He obviously wasn't happy I told my team about that.

"Anything else?" he hissed at me, "Or did you just tell them everything?"

"What? I only told them what I know, and that really isn't much."

"But you still told them. You Promised!" He roared, his stance instantly shifting into an aggressive one, ready to launch an attack. We all took a step back, scared of his sudden hostility.

"Whoa, dude, calm down. You don't want to do anything you'll regret." Cy started to reason. He just snarled.

"Not friend James? Please, we only wish to help you? Why won't you let us?" Starfire asked innocently.

"Because you'll die!" He roared.

"James." I tried to interrupt, but he just continued his rant.

"All I do is bring pain and suffering wherever I go!"

"James." I said a little louder, I really hoped he wasn't in another one of those freak outs.

"That's why I just want to be left alone!"

"James." He was still ignoring me.

"But instead, you insist on trying to fix me!"

"James!" My voice was getting louder.

"Well news flash, I'm perfectly fine!" He finished.

"JAMES!" I shouted. Everyone fell silent, shocked at my outburst, and looked at me as James's demeanor drastically changed. He was now cowering on the floor in fear, curled up in a ball, and backed into a corner. He was trembling fearfully, wide eyed and paler than me.

"Y-y-ye-e-s?" he weakly whispered, his body still trembling, causing his voice to quiver as he spoke. I instantly felt his fear, _What did I just do?_

"What did you do?" Robin asked shooting me a look.

"I don't know. I didn't mean too." I whispered, horrified at what I had just done. Robin took over.

"Hey, James," He jumped at the sound of his name, eyeing Robin fearfully. Watching him carefully as Robin crouched down to his level, " Hey, it's going to be okay," he was crawling slowly towards the scared teen, "we just want to help you. James, it's okay, we just want to help. Can you let us do that?" Robin asked quietly, holding an outstretched hand to the terrified boy. It was like he was talking to a five-year old. James looked at the hand, then over the entire room before returning his gaze to Robin and the outstretched hand. His eyes flickered between the hand and Robin's face a few more times before raising his own trembling hand, and hesitantly taking Robin's hand. Robin helped him up, and helped him walked in the direction of the couch, passing us silently. James cringed as they walked pass me. Robin started to say it was okay as they continued towards the couch. Robin turned to grab a blanket and James's glass of water; he then placed the blanket around the teen after he put the glass down on the coffee table before walked back to join our group, giving me a very confused and slightly angry look. Actually, everyone was looking at me now. I pulled my hood up, trying to hide my face.

"Raven? What did you do to him? He is scared half to death."

"I didn't do anything. I swear, I was- I was just trying to get his attention. I never meant to..."

"Yeah, well you scared the shit out of him." BB interjected distastefully. _I'm not helping, I'm just making it worse. I look like his dead girlfriend, I caused one of his mental freak outs, and now I just frightened him. I should just leave._ I felt horrible, I was hurting more then I was helping.

"I'm going to turn in early." I said, leaving the room. I wanted to help, but I was just different, and it would only hurt. Hopefully leaving would help him. Maybe it was best that way. The doors slide shut behind me, and taking a shaky breath, I continued quickly to my room. It wasn't until I was in the safety of my room that I let loose, the tears that I had been hiding were starting to break thru. I hated myself now. I could believe I did that to him. James! Oh all the people in the world, I had to yell at the kid that was tortured, watched his friends and girlfriend die, and then got ran over by us in the T-car. I couldn't face anyone at the moment, or for a while. I kept myself locked up in my room for the rest of the day, thinking about how I scared the poor teen even more.

* * *

**Ok, that it for now I guess. Oh and question, and maybe it's just me and I can't see, but I don't see my story on the main list with all of the other crossovers for this category, so I wanted to know if you guys all see it up there? If so, then my computer is just stupid and wont show me.**

**I guess I'll see you all next time.**


	8. Returning the Favor

**Okay, so I haven't don this in a while, but I'm going to respond to a few reviews because I don't know what else to add to this chapter so...**

**nojudging15: thanks, I figured it was something like that, like I said, I just don't know how to look. And I'm glad you liked it! :)**

**Puckoberon: I plan to! I'm having a blast just writing each chapter and I don't plan on stopping until the story is over.**

**PrincessBetty01: Yep, He will get his rights, but that will take a while, I think, it depends on when I can get that part out without rushing the story line. However everything does smooth over, and that part is brought up in this chapter.**

**If I didn't respond to your post, I'm sorry, but like I said in the last chapter, I do read every review, multiple times, and it makes me so happy to know that all of you like my story so much! :D**

**And now, Chapter 8, this follows the story line of "Spellbound" episode 6 in the Titans cartoon series. So the basic story line goes to the creators of the show, not me. :(**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Raven POV**

I exited Nevermore again today, like I have been doing for the past couple of days since the incident with James. I couldn't take it, the guilt and remorse I feel for that. It was hard for me and I couldn't understand why either. I knew the Team was pissed at me for what I did, that much was obvious. But, I agreed with them. Who knows what I could have done to his already fragile state of mind with that outburst. I can still see his cowering imaged clearly in my mind, the small tremors in his frame while he curled up in the corner. The guilt eating at me was unimaginable, and because of that, my emotions were flying off the walls. My mind was the only safe place I could go and let loose and were things wouldn't blow up from me letting my emotions loose. I had a long and serious talk with my emoticlones right after that, I had talked to all of them, and after it all, I still didn't feel any better. It was late when I left my mind after that talk. I think I woke up late, like almost ten, and went to get my tea, only to find James in the main room. I basically avoided him those few days, not wanting to reopen that wound. I reverted back to my introvert ways for those few days, mostly reading a new book and meditating just to keep my mind off of what I did. The book was really good, and that really helped my situation, I was halfway thru it when the alarm buzzed, interrupting my reading.

"Hey Raven. Put the pedal to the metal, we gotta go!" I heard BB shout from the other side of my door. I looked up angrily. _It is a really good book. Figures when I get to the good part, something always happens._ I marked my page and headed down to the T-car. Cyborg managed to fix it after the whole James thing. I still shudder at that, and then think about what I did to him. I closed my eyes as I forced the memory from my mind. We ended up at the park, apparently Kardiak was attacking. We got there as a poor kid was being sucked into one of its valve tentacle things. Robin launched three bird-a-rangs, cutting the tube, Starfire flew and caught the kid, and Cy blasted it with his sonic cannon.

"Kardiak, you're under arrest." Robin simply stated. It only responded by reforming its broken tube, pumping like an actual heart and floated up into the air, before attacking us. "Titans, GO!"

We dodged the incoming tentacles as they flew towards us. Robin pulled out his bow-staff and called out his attack, "Starfire, launch!" She grabbed his foot and threw him at the oversized robotic heart. He hit down on the top of it and pushing it to the ground before it retaliated and threw Robin back into Star, both of them colliding and temporarily being unable to battle.

Cy was next, "T-Rex takedown!" He landed on BB who in turn, transformed into a T-Rex and charged. It was a good idea, only they got taken down instead. I attacked, throwing five lamp posts at it, only for them to be broken and the heart to attack me with its tube things. It lasted for a while, all of us getting our butts kicked. I had enough.

"This had gone on long enough! Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" I shouted, encasing the heart with my black energy, I felt around for a weak spot, finding it at the connecting spots of the valves to the heart itself, I pulled and ripped the heart into pieces.

"Dude! Way to take him apart?" BB stupidly commented, obviously trying to make it a joke out of it, while I just headed for the car. I got in, closed the door, and buckled my seat-belt, and rolled down the window before I spoke.

"Can we go now?" I whined. Everyone just looked at me in confusion before walking back to the car. It was an awkward silent ride back to the tower, no one wanted to bring up the whole James issue. Robin came by my room the next day to tell me that he wanted James to stay in the tower for another week, just to make sure he was stable enough before we released him. So now, I had to avoid him for the rest of the week because I didn't want to cause any further damage to his already broken mind.

While everyone went back to the main room, I headed back to my room instead. I knew James was going to be there and I didn't want to cause a scene. That, and I wanted to read my book again. This book really helped get my mind off of all the trouble I caused the first few days after the incident and still helped by taking all my thoughts and stress away. I got to the same place as before, only to be interrupted again. I got up and walked to the door and opened it. Robin. _Great, what does he want?_

"Hey, when we got home you kind of _ran_ to your room and locked the door. Anything you want to talk about?" He asked.

"No." I responded, then closed the door before he could start up with another thing about James. I walked back to my bed and began reading again. Again, I got to the same place when my door was knocked on again. I opened it and found Starfire.

"I have journeyed to the mall of shopping and discovered the joy of earthly hair ornaments. Do you wish to-" she said in her broken English.

"No." I interrupted, closing the door to go back to my book. I sighed as I sat back down on my bed and tried to read again. I finally was able to read a paragraph farther than the spot I was rudely interrupted a third time. It was getting really good when there was; you guessed it, another knock at my door.

"Yo Raven!" I heard Cy shout.

"Dude, open up!" BB quickly shouted afterwards. Growling, I stomped angrily to my door and threw it open with my magic. I was pissed. They stepped back a few feet, smiling large innocent looking grins at me.

"What?" I asked, trying so very hard to not blast them out of the tower or send them to another dimension. They decided to give me an infomercial about the new game they just made up called stank-ball. _What the hell is that?_

"Want to be referee?" BB asked smiling as he held up a cloak similar to mine, only striped like a referee uniform. _He isn't serious, is he?_

"Go. Away." And with that, I closed my door. Or tried to. BB caught it before it shut.

"But, please." He whined. I stood there, my back to the door, holding my book close to me.

"Everybody loves a good game of stank-ball." Cy teased.

"And we need a referee to play the lighting round."

"No." I said, as I blasted them out of the way for my door to close all the way.

"Aww, Raven _co me_ on! Why can you have fun like normal people? Why are you always locked in your dark room reading your nasty old books? Why do you have to be so creepy?" He shouted. I just clutched the book tighter, hurt by what he said.

"Forget it B…" Cy started, he sounded like he and Beast Boy were walking away.

"I'm not creepy. I'm just different." I whispered to myself, as I walked back to my bed still tightly clutching the book to my chest, "I just wish there was someone around here that understood that. Someone I could talk to. Someone, more like me." The next thing that happened blew my mind.

"There is." Came a voice out of nowhere. Gasping, I dropped the book I was holding and backed up. "Ow." It said, causing me to gasp again.

"Uhh, did you just-" I was going crazy, a book is talking to me. I have to be going crazy, books don't talk.

"Speak?" it finished for me.

"Uh-huh." I nodded. _Okay, this is weird._

"I did. And then you dropped me on my spine."

"Oh, sorry. Books aren't suppose to talk." I said kneeling down to pick it back up.

"True fair maiden, but I am no book. I am a man. Malchior of Nol, at your service." He proclaimed happily.

"The wizard that faced the dread dragon Rorek?" _No way, the wizard from the story? This is so cool!_

"The wizard that defeated Rorek." He corrected, "and who is trapped within these pages by the dragons' final curse."

"Trapped? But that battle was almost…"

"One thousand years ago, and I have been waiting for someone to find me ever since. Raven. I've been waiting for you." He said, flipping to a picture of me inside the book. I positive I blushed as I gasped. I decided I would try to release him, only for the book to block my attempt.

"The curse is strong. I'm sorry. I don't think my power can break it." I looked away, saddened at that news. Here was someone who understands me, and he was trapped within a book.

"I know, but perhaps we could just, talk?" he asked. I thought about it, and it sounded like a very good idea.

And so we did, for the rest of the night.

**Beast Boy POV**

So me and Cy walked back into the main room, where everyone was hopefully waiting for Raven to referee for the game of stank-ball. "She's not coming, we'll have to do something else guys." I said, I was a little ticked off, I mean seriously, we are her friends and she decides to lock herself in her room away from us! Geeze, nice friend you are.

"Why don't we just watch a movie instead. Any suggestions?" Robin asked.

"Action!" Cy called.

"Comedy!" I shouted.

"Romance!" squealed Star.

"Uhh, I don't know. Horror?" James asked, almost unsure of his answer. We all just stared at him with a blank face, shocked at his genre choice.

"Are you sure? I mean, we don't-" Robin started, very concerned. He was still worried after the whole deal with Raven, actually we all were and didn't want him to freak again. I mean it literally took a few hours before he had started to even move more than just his small rocking movements. And even after that, he wasn't fully himself till the next day.

"Dude, as long as it's not about ghosts, I'm good with anything in the horror department." He shrugged, "And thanks for the concern, but I'm fine."

"Whatever man, it's your head."

"Why not horror movies about ghosts?" I asked, mostly curious.

"Because, I don't do ghosts. Anything else is fair game." He stated. Then again, that phantom guy killed his girlfriend so that would make sense. It's funny, they town calls their hero a ghost kid, Cy was laughing so hard because he says ghosts don't exist. I would believe that if I didn't get that creepy feeling around Eidolon. Yes, I can finally say his name right. It took forever before I could get the pronunciation right.

"Why don't we just watch an action movie." Robin offered, trying to keep the peace. We all shrugged, so he popped in the disk and the movie started. None of us bothered to get Raven, she was pissed as it is with us interrupting her all the time. Apparently we can just hang out with her, it's like some forbidden rule or something. _Whatever_. I ended up sitting in-between James and Cyborg during the movie. That was the problem, even though I loved this movie, I kept getting some weird and creepy vibe from him, like I some time do with Raven. I mean ok, we all know he is a meta, like us and that his body runs a little differently then ours, like 20 degrees cooler and a slower heart rate but it was like he was still even more differently than that. I can't really explain it. My animal instincts would flare up every time he did something. Like with the creepy white cloaked dude, but not noticeable unless I'm right next to him. kind of like I am now, otherwise I'm fine. Everyone else here thinks I'm crazy, but I'm not crazy, I know I'm not. When the movie ended, that's when I decided to ask him about it.

"Hey, James? Can I ask you something?"

"You just did." He sarcastically answered.

"That's not what I meant."

"Well, you said, can I ask you something, and you did. Therefore I answered your question." He came back with another witty remark.

"Okay then, can I ask you two questions?"

"Okay, shoot." He grinned.

"Okay, do you know why when I'm near you I get a weird creepy feeling?"

"Nooo, why? Do I give you the 'Uh-oh' feeling?" he joked, but confused at the same time.

"I don't know, everyone else thinks I'm crazy, but it's similar to this other guy, Eidolon. But with you it's like everything's muted." James gaped at me, "What?" I whined.

"You do know what that name means? Right?" he inquired, still gawking but almost like he was offended.

"No… What does that name mean?"

He sighed, "The synonyms for the word Eidolon are; ghost, phantom, shade, wraith, spirit, ect. You are essentially calling me dead. Though, it would make sense for you to feel weird around him, this Eidolon guy but that's only assuming his name means what he is, thus making it a natural reaction from your animal instincts." He finished explaining.

"Wait, are you saying that Eidolon _is_ Phantom?" Robin jumped in. James cringed at the conclusion, most likely from being reminded of that guy. I didn't blame him, Phantom murdered his friends while he couldn't do anything but watch helplessly.

"No, though it could be a possibility. I haven't met this new guy, but that's what his name means. And BB here is saying I give him the same feeling, so he is saying that I'm already dead. I think I would remember if I died." He glared at me.

"So, your saying that it's possible that Eidolon is a ghost?"

"I would have to see him first before I give you a definitive answer. I did live in Amity Park for a while. You know the most haunted place in the US. I have seen ghosts, if this guy fits the basic description then yeah, he would be a ghost."

"So how much do you know on the subject?"

"Not much actually, but I don't really want to talk about that subject if that's ok…" he trailed off sadly.

"Yeah, no problem. Sorry." Robin dropped the topic after that, we all didn't want him to regress back into his terrified state, or worse, have some freak out like when he destroyed the hospital room in the tower. We each said good night and all headed to bed, though it was still weird being around James, I just wish I could figure out why.

**Danny POV**

The past few days had been interesting, I can tell you that for sure. First, Raven scared the crap out of me while I was ranting, and now she is avoiding me. Ok, I get why, I think, but she doesn't need to feel that bad about it. I wish she would just come out and talk to me so I could forgive her, seeing as how the rest of the Titans won't let me get near her. I mean I feel bad for her because I'm sure she feels horrible about scaring me. And then on top of that, the team is pissed at her for it, I can understand why but still, it was an accident, and _even_ I knew that. That's why I can forgive her for it, she didn't mean it. Then after that, Robin decided that I needed to stay in the tower for even longer. He was going to let me go, but after that incident, it wasn't going to happen. So now I'm stuck here for another week. And seeing as how they wanted to keep an eye on me at all times, I wasn't allowed to be in my room for longer then and hour, so I decided I would _try_ to act like my old fourteen-year old self, before all the craziness happened. I almost forgot how easy life was before the accident, and it turns out, they liked my happy-go-lucky self. Who knew? Oh and yesterday, when their alarm went off, obviously there was trouble, and it was their job to take care of the city. That made so much more sense to me now that I knew, but I still hated it. I mean they were paid by the city to keep it safe and the public cheered after they beat the villain. I was called a villain just because I damaged a few buildings and cars while trying to stop a ghost attack, and because I was a ghost, I was considered evil and should be stopped. I guess that's why I never really liked any other hero's because they were welcomed in this city not feared, not hated, but loved. I bet though, with all of their hero complexes, they would most likely protect the city for free. But seriously, yesterday was probably the best, and the weirdest.

_Flashback_

_ "Okay, okay. So what do you want to do?" Beast Boy asked._

_ "You have any good video games?" I asked, just because I wanted to get my bored mind off of the Raven topic._

_ "Yeah! Dude, we have all of these!" Beast Boy shouted, pulling out a box containing hundreds of games. I popped up and began to dig thru them, grinning like a mad man when I found it. I held it up for BB to look at. He grinned as well. "Dude, I love that game, but Cy always kicks my butt. Maybe I'll have better luck going up against you." He exclaimed, I thought he was going to be right. Turns out, he sucked, badly, or I was just a beast. Or both. That was possible. He stared at the screen, in awe, he hadn't knocked a point off my characters health bar and I kicked his butt in like thirty seconds._

_ "DUDE! YOU HAVE TO PLAY CYBORG!" he shouted, "CYBORG! CYBORG!" sure enough, Cyborg came walking in, wondering what the hell all the yelling was from._

_ "What grass stain! I was bu-sy…" He trailed off when he saw the score on the game, then looked at me. "Did you do that?" I just nodded, "You mean I actually have a worthy opponent in this game?" He was getting excited. I hoped he was as good as he was thinking cause if not, this was going to be depressing. He snatched the controller form BB's hands and sat down next to me. He changed the character to his favorite, and we began the match. Sure enough, not even a minute later, the game was over and I was the winner, with the same results as when I kicked BB's butt. BB sent out a low whistle, while Cyborg just sat there, dumbstruck that I just handed his ass to him on a silver platter._

_ "I demand a rematch!" He shouted. _Fine, if he wants another silver platter, I'll give him another one._ Beast Boy had called Robin and Starfire into the room, Raven was not coming, obvious reasons. So we restated the match, and it was like déjà vu. Robin's jaw hit the floor._

_ "See! See! I told you! I told you, he's a freaking BOSS!" Gave a large toothy grin at BB's statement. The alarm went off then and they headed out to the park to stop some form of trouble. When they got back, that was when it got interesting._

_ "Okay, a giant robotic heart that sucks up little kids for energy is defiantly the most messed up thing I have ever seen, and I have seen the a lot of messed up things in my life." I was trying and failing to contain my laughter as they walked back into the main room. They just looked at me like I was insane, then again, I am insane so what do I care. _

_"His name is Kardiak. Raven ended up dismantling him." Robin informed._

_"What did you do, say he was under arrest!" I joked._

_Robins eyes narrowed slightly, "How did you know that?"_

_"You did, didn't you! And Raven took him down right?"_

_"Yes, he stopped beating, though I don't get what is so funny!" I lost it after that._

_"Hahaha! S-s-s-so Kardiak. Haha! H-h-had a. Hahaha! A cardiac arrest! Haha, cardiac arrest! Hahahahaha!" I was rolling around on the floor, my hands clutching my sides my feet kicking the air, dying from laughing so hard. It was a really bad joke, you know like the ones that shouldn't be made fun of because it's a serious medical emergency, but it was just too funny to not let it go. Cy started laughing to, just realizing the joke and the hidden meaning behind it, finally everyone was laughing. I had tears coming from my eyes because of how hard I was laughing. It took a good twenty minutes before we were able to compose our selves for normal conversation. After that, Cy, BB, and I created a new game called Stank-ball. Well, more like they created it, I just made snide comments like, "What, no lighting round?" and "A rubber ball is so boring, use a ball of socks or something?" and they added them to the game, believing that I was actually helping. I was going to go with the two guys to see if Raven wanted to join us just to do something, but everyone said "No!" in unison really, really loudly. Apparently they still thought it wasn't a good idea that I got near Raven. Though when BB and Cy came back into the room, I was a little glad I didn't._

_End of Flashback_

So now, here we are, just chilling out and eating lunch when BB noticed that Raven hadn't even come out for her usually herbal tea. However, what I didn't know was that when they had gone to see if Raven wanted to play, they had conveniently left out BB's ending rant.

"Okay, I get that she is trying to leave you alone so you can heal but seriously, she can't stay cooped up in her creepy old room forever!" He shouted. I flinched as he said the word creepy. _Oh hell no! He did not just tell me that he thinks his friend is creepy._

"You didn't say that to her, did you?" I asked, light anger in my voice as I turned to face him.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Yesterday. Did you call her creepy?" I asked again, more anger in my voice. I knew what it was like to be the odd man out. The one that was different and always picked one because of my parents and what they did, and just because I was a wimp until I got my ghost powers, and even then I was still small.

"Actually, he did." Cy answered for BB.

"_What!_" I hissed. BB flinched.

"Yeah, I have the recording. Let me just find it… oh here we go." He hit a button on his arm and BB's voice rang throughout the room: _"Aww, Raven _come_ on! Why can you have fun like normal people? Why are you always locked in your dark room reading your nasty old books? Why do you have to be so creepy?"_ I slowly turned my head to face the green boy, with the master of all death glares on my face. I saw a very pale, wide eyed BB at the receiving end of my glare.

"Go. Apologize. NOW!" I hissed, pointing in the general direction of Raven's room. He shrank back a few inches.

"But dude, she is!" He whined. "I mean you have _seen_ her room! It is like creepiesville central in there!" That ticked me off even more, and I lost it.

"I DON'T CARE!" I roared, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE ISOLATED AND PICKED ON BECAUSE OF HOW DIFFERENT YOU ARE! BECAUSE I DO! HELL! THAT'S WHY I WAS EXPERIMENTED ON! YOU NEED TO APOLOGIZE, NOW! YOU MAY NOT SEE IT, BUT KNOW SHE IS HURTING BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU SAID! I MEAN HELLO! MY GIRLFRIEND WAS JUST LIKE HER! PLUS YOU ARE HER _FRIEND_ FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! SO YOU NEED TO GO APOLOGIZE TO HER _NOW_!" I finished still pointing at the metal doors while BB was on the floor, about to piss himself, cowering in fear. I reached down and picked him up by the scruff of his neck like a cat, "Or so help me I will drag your sorry little ass to her room myself!" I hissed in his ear, then shoving/tossing him towards the doors. He took off. The other three just stared at me in complete shock.

"James?" Cy asked cautiously.

"What?" I hissed.

"Are you okay?"

"No!" I shouted. I heard the anger in my voice, and shut down and blocked everyone out for a second. _Just breathe, in, out, in, out. Calm down._

"I didn't think so. Maybe we should-"

"No. I'm just stating the truth. He shouldn't have called her that. Period. I don't care _what_ his excuse was. It was uncalled for." I explained, finally being able to regulate my breathing. I was calmer, but still fuming.

"But, _you_ stood up for her. Why?" Robin asked, curiously. Sure she scared me half to death that one time but I wasn't going to let her be made fun of. Besides, I wasn't going to let something _like_ happen and let it go without something being said.

"I may have gone a little overboard, but it's because I can tell that what the stupid idiot said to her, must have hurt her feelings. I may not know all of you like you know each other, but I can tell that she hides her emotions and feelings; but just because she doesn't show them, it doesn't mean she doesn't have any or that they weren't hurt by his words. I would know. I have been called many different hurtful names as well." I explained sadly, thinking of everything I have been called, while still staring at the door. _I should apologize to him._

"True, but you should apologize for you outburst." Robin offered, understanding my point.

I sighed, "Like I said, I went a little overboard, but I needed to get my point across that what he did was still wrong. But your right, I was thinking that I needed to apologize for that to him." Robin was right. I scared him just like Raven had scared me, even if it wasn't to the same extreme. I sat down at the table and waited for BB to return so I could say I was sorry for my outburst before I headed up to my new room to meditate. Oh yeah, they gave me a more sound proof room while I was still here, mostly so I wouldn't wake up them up with my nightmares. That and Starfire had come to break me out of my room the first day after the scare only to find me in the middle of the floor meditating and began to assault me with questions as to why I was meditating. When we got down to the main room, she still hadn't let up and everyone else but Raven learned that I meditate. BB had let a comment slip but I let it go, I really didn't want to waste my energy arguing over it. But when the second one came out I did attack.

_Flashback_

_ "Dude, male version of Raven." BB snickered. I rolled my eyes and ignored it. "What powers do you have that requires you to meditate? I mean like why do you need it with super healing?" That's when I attacked._

_ "Why I meditate is my own business not yours! As for my powers, don't worry about them!"_

_"Why don't they matter? What are your powers anyways?"_

_"Yeah man, what can you do?"_

_Of course they would asked that, "I said don't worry about them!"_

_"But if we knew what you could do, it would help us find the people that hurt you." Robin tried to explain. I did the first thing that came to my mind. I lied._

_"I don't have them anymore so it don't worry about them!"_ Fuck! I had to say that! Of all things I could have lied about! I had to pick that! _That was going to be a hard secret to keep, but what better way to keep my other half a secret then by saying I don't have my superpowers anymore. Everyone stared at me in horror and shock. Unable to speak from the heartbreaking news. _Great now I have to act like I don't have them any more. More importantly what am I going to say my powers were?

_ "You do not have your powers anymore?" Star barely whispered. I looked away, totally playing on the depressed ex-hero, and nodded. I should have gotten an Oscar for my acting skills. I'm sure even Raven would have bought my lie._

_ "Yeah."_

_ "What? How? When?" Cy stuttered._

_ "I said don't worry about it!"_

_ "It was from the experiments, wasn't it?" Robin asked, though it wasn't much of a question. _

_"No... Way."_

_"Dude."_

_Starfire only gasped, I looked at Robin, when I didn't respond, he figured he was right. "When?"_

_ "What?"_

_ "When did you lose them?"_

_ "About three years ago." I looked away for the hero's, still pulling off the best acting in history. _I might as well be truthful with something, even though it might come back to bite me later. But hey, that's karma for ya.

_ "Damn. Man, I'm sorry. If it helps, I can relate, I got into an accident and became this. Look, if you ever want to talk about it, I'll be here to listen." Cy replied, some form of understanding in his tone as he placed his hand on my shoulder, giving me a warm smile. _What I went through is nothing compared to you, but I guess to have something taken from you like that makes us similar.

_ "Thanks."_

_ "Don't worry James. We will make sure these monsters pay for what they did to you. I can promise you that!" Robin declared. I nodded, knowing they would actually send me back once they knew what I was._

_ "So, what where your powers, you know, before you lost them?" BB asked. _Of course he would have to ask me what my powers were. Well fuck! I still haven't thought that up. What should I say, Flying? Okay yeah, that's good, and maybe strength? No, how about… uhh, ice? Well I guess that will work. It could explain my cold body temperature. Okay, so flying and cryokinesis.

_ "I was able to fly, and I had __cryokinesis abilities as well__. I guess that would kind of explain my cold body temperature." I chuckled at the last sentence. And the best part was that they actually bought it! But they all flipped out when I left the room, I could hear them through the main doors, I just sat down a listened to them argue and rant about how I could be this sane with all that's happened to me. I chuckled thinking, _If only you knew the whole truth.

_End of Flashback_

So yeah, they "know" more about my past, or so they think. After my little explosion, I should meditate soon, hopefully they would let me too. The doors opened to a very confused Beast Boy. I got up and started to make my way over to BB when he burst out with some news that shocked all of us.

"Ok, so I went to apologize and you know what I hear that comes out of Raven's mouth?! Laughter! She was laughing! I mean, like since _when_ does Raven _laugh_?" He exclaimed, "And there was no one in her room but she was talking to some dude named Malchior! I mean seriously, who the hell is this Malchior guy? Like, since _when_ did Raven have a _Boyfriend_?"

"Uhh, dude, are you sure? I mean, are you sure you're not trying to pull a prank or something?" Cy asked, now more worried about BB sanity more than mine.

"Dude, I'm positive. Would I ever joke about Raven having a boyfriend?" He huffed. I know this was probably a bad time, but I did need to apologize, and I wanted to do it sooner rather than later. Plus it looked like an argument was going to break out after that statement.

"Hey Beast Boy? Can I talk to you?" I asked, gaining his attention instantly. His eyes widened at my question.

"A-a-about what?" he quivered. _Damn, he's afraid of me now._

"Look, dude, I'm really sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to blow up at you like that. It's just, you reminded me about my past and I didn't want someone else to go through that without something being said. What I did was way overboard and for that I'm really sorry. Can you forgive me?" I asked, my voice honestly sincere.

After what seemed like forever, he finally accepted, "Yeah, I can forgive you."

"Thanks." I smiled. Now that the hard part was over, I wanted to know more about this new boyfriend of Ravens'. "So, someone named Malchior, huh?"

"Yeah, I know!" the rest of the day was spent talking about who he could possibly be. I, however, felt like I had heard that name before, I just couldn't recall where.

For the next couple of days, I was literally racking my brain for any possible clues as to where I heard that guy's name before. You know, that feeling that where you know you have heard of seen something but can't completly recall it and it drives you crazy because you don't know. But its right there and you eventually get it like a few days later. Yeah that's how I felt about this name, but with no such luck after a few days. BB however, found a much simpler way. He apparently spent the last few days spying on Raven as a fly a wall in her room. And gave us loads of info as to what has been going on. I didn't condone the idea of BB spying on his friend, neither did Robin for that matter, and I had a bad feeling in my gut about this guy.

Raven came out of her room for the first time this week, only to be wearing a completely different outfit. Well it was the same, but the color scheme was all white. I took one look and I felt the tingling sensation that was an episode creeping into my mind. I literally had to look away because of my distaste for white, and that she almost looked like she could be part of the GIW agency. Everyone else moved to the kitchen to talk to her. Beast Boy noticed that I wasn't moving, and dragged me to the kitchen area to be with the rest of the group. So I sat myself down in a chair at the bar and looked at the wall in the opposite direction of Raven, praying that the small glance I had of her wouldn't be enough to trigger an episode.

Robin spoke first, "Uh, hey Raven. Haven't seen you around much lately."

"Yeah, cause she hasn't left her room for a week." BB interrupted. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Cyborg push the changelings head down.

"I uhh, like your new look?" Cy grinned, unsure about what the response would be. As much as I wanted to join them, I couldn't. I didn't want to risk another episode and be forced to stay here for another week. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate what they were doing for me, but I didn't want them to get hurt, or worse, killed. Unfortunately, the best way to do that was to try and keep myself distant, though that was really hard when they would drag me out of my room and down into the main room to participate in video games or watching a movie just because I'm _"not allowed to be out of their sight". _I think they were growing on me, these people, no, these teens that actually cared about my well being. Something I haven't had since Vlad.

"Thanks." She responded.

"So, when do we get to meet this friend of yours?" Robin asked in a more cheerful tone.

"Soon." I didn't have to see her, to know that she was smiling. _Yep, he is definitely her boyfriend._ Then Star attacked.

"I am unable to wait! Beast Boy has told us much about the Malchior and how he remains trapped within a book but-" Starfire was most likely bouncing with excitement as she spoke.

"Now how would Beast Boy know something like that?" Raven interrupted, and most likely staring at BB who was probably sweating bullets. I snuck a glance at BB. _Yep, I was right, he is sweating like a pig._

"He-he, I may have, kind of, been a-a fly on the wall in your room." He stuttered, then turning himself into a fly, as if to prove his point. I was still looking at BB, and it just got to the good part.

"Funny, you look more like a _rat_ to me." And on cue, BB went from being a green fly to a green rat, just like Raven said. I fell off the chair laughing as BB was trying to figure out how Raven morphed him. _I told you! You shouldn't have spied on her! That's karma biting you back for spying, dumb ass!_

"You morphed me. How did you do that?" Before she could answer, the computer buzzed signaling trouble.

"Titans. Move!" Robin called. I got back up on my feet as everyone headed out the doors except for me, and apparently Raven.

"You going to go help, or just float there humming to yourself?" I asked, BB heard me and turned to yell at the _new_ Raven.

"Hello, we gotta go!" BB called. Raven snapped out of her humming and left the building, leaving me the only occupant in the T shaped tower. And since everyone is gone, I decided to get some of my own answers. So I walked down all the halls until I came upon Raven's room. _I know I shouldn't go in,_ _but I need answers and the door_ is_ unlocked..._ She was obviously planning to go back in and lock the door. As the door closed behind me, a voice broke the silence.

"Ahh, Raven, my fair maiden, you have returned. I was beginning to get lonely an-"

"Alright, I only have a few minutes so I'm going to make this fast. Where and why would I have heard you name before?" I asked, while turning around. We both gasped, I was looking a man who was literally made out of book pages, _thought BB was joking,_ while I assumed that he was looking at someone who wasn't Raven.

"Rorek? How are you still alive?" He finally growled.

"What the hell are you talking about?" _Okay, now both names sound familiar._

"I'd recognize those eyes anywhere! How are you still alive?"

"Dude, I don't know, nor do I care who the hell this 'Rorek' character is,"_ That's a lie,_ "I just want to know why I would have heard _your_ name before? Can you answer _that?"_

"Maybe because you have read my book on all of my tales and accomplishments?" he answered with another questioned. Defiantly suspicious.

"Possible, though I didn't have much time to read when I was younger, and I don't think I would have forgotten a talking book either." _Something is wrong here, he seems like he is hiding something..._

"Well then, I can't help you, now leave. Raven shall be back any moment." He quickly whispered. _Oh yeah, he is hiding something, but what?_

"Whatever, but I'm not done with you yet." I said over my shoulder, and headed back to the couch to play the video game I was entertained with before the Titans left. BB came rushing in, well actually they all came rushing in, worried as hell.

"Uhh, not to be a downer, but you all look like, freaked out."

"Dude, Raven did some freaky spell thing and nearly killed a kid while we were trying to stop Kardiak again!" BB began.

"Seriously, didn't I not just freak out on you about this?" I growled at the green boy.

"No! I mean, yes! No but like, she is completely different then the Raven we knew!" He shouted again. That part was true, she was defiantly different.

"So, is there anything else about this Malchior that we should know, like say, maybe some of the things he did?" I asked, trying to see if BB knew anything about a Rorek person.

"Yeah, he told Raven that unless she can get more powerful with her magic, the dread dragon Rorek, or something like that, his curse would keep Malchior bound to the book he is trapped in forever." I stiffened. _No, it couldn't be… could it?_

"Are you sure? Are you sure that Malchior was the one that defeated a dragon?"

"Yeah, he, well Malchior of Nol, defeated the Dread Dragon Rorek…" BB started to explain, though I began to drown him out as a light bulb lit up in my head. _I read a book very similar, but the names were different. Sam had some fantasy book about a great wizard, Rorek of Nol I think, and how he defeated the Dread Dragon Malchior by… By trapping him in a book! Then, were the names were switched? Is it possible that she is helping the Dragon, not the wizard? Malchior said he recognized my eyes anywhere and accused me on being Rorek. Why would he… Because, Rorek had blue eyes, just like me. Oh my god, Malchior is the Dragon. FUCK!_

"No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Not good, not good." I started to talk to myself. _This is bad! This is really, really bad!_

"What? What's not good?" the team asked, very concerned with my sudden muttering, "dude you okay? This isn't another break down right?"

"I read that book, similar to the one Raven is talking about. My girlfriend had it, but in that one, Malchior. He wasn't the wizard, he-" There was a big crash from the other side of the building. We all turned to look at the doors. I gulped, "He was the dragon." And on cue a savage roar from a large beast rang through the air.

"Titans GO!" Robin cried without hesitation. This time I followed. We ran down the halls before finally getting to Ravens room. Robin busted down the door with ease as a black and purple dragon tail slithered up thru the hole in the roof. "Raven!" Robin called as he landed on top of the broken door.

"He lied to me. He lied. And I _gave_ him what he wanted." Was the only thing she said, while she stared straight ahead at nothing in particular, but there was so much pain and sorrow in her eyes, I knew she was hurt, but not just hurt, he broke her heart. I knew that pain. It sucked.

"Come on!" Robin ordered. Everyone but me and BB left the room.

"Raven, are you-" BB started.

"Please, just get out of my room." She interrupted, not even bothering to look at him. Beast Boy just turned into a falcon and followed the others thru the hole in the ceiling. I could hear the battle happening on the roof, but Raven needed help, and after all that she had done for me, I decided to return the favor.

"Raven?"

"I thought I told you to leave my room?"

"No, you told BB that. I'm not allowed to fight."

"Then why did you come?" she asked, standing up to face me.

"Because I figured out his lie, but I guess I was too late to warn you about it. About him." I looked down, "Look, he may have lied, but that doesn't mean he should get away with it. Especially breaking you heart that way." She looked at me with a very confused expression as I picked up the white tome that was on the floor.

"How- How could you-" she stuttered, beyond confused.

"I know that's what he did. I can see it in your eyes. The pain they are holding."

"I don't know what to do. He used me. He used me to get what he wanted, and, I believed him. I'm weak and pathetic. I-I should have known. I-"

"No. What he did _was_ wrong, but that does not make you pathetic or weak. There was no way you could have known. Don't blame yourself for it either, but if you want to fix this, you need to help your friends fight him. Teach him a lesson." I smiled, looking into her eyes and handing her the white book, "You know, lady karma can be a _bitch_ sometimes…" I hinted slyly as she took the book from my hands, wonder in her eyes, then they hardened as she looked up to the hole in her ceiling, and took off to join the fight, dropping the book in the process.

I grabbed the book, and because I couldn't just fly up to the roof like her and risk showing off my ghost powers, or that I still had my powers in their minds, I took the stairs making it to the roof just in time too. I saw the black dragon flying in the air, Raven trapped in his grip, while arguing with him. Honestly, the dragon looked like a male version of Maleficent's dragon form in the Disney movie "Sleeping Beauty", I don't know about you but hey that's just my opinion. I found the other Titans on the other side of the roof regrouping as they watched Raven attack the dragon, and I went to join them in while watching the fight as well but I had to admit, I was amazed at how relentless she was, letting all of her anger out on the dragon.

"It's not over. Not yet." Raven growled as she summoned the book I was holding in my hands to her and commented on something I didn't hear, "You may have taught me spells, but I just learned a curse." And with that, she cast the curse that placed the Dragon back where he belongs. I smiled as the dragon was sucked back into the book. _Karma _can_ be a bitch._ Raven closed the book and floated back down to the roof, falling to her hands and knees, while her outfit changed back to its original colors of blue and black. We all surrounded her, hoping she was going to be okay, but she just got up and walked straight to her room, not even acknowledging us. Robin started to head after her but I stopped him, placing my hand on his shoulder.

"Let her go, she will need to be alone for a little while." I solemnly said.

"How do you know that? She is going to need us now more than ever!"

"Yes, she will need you, but a broken heart needs time to recover." I finished for him, still calm and collected.

"How would you know that her heart is broken? You don't know her like we do!" Robin argued. I raised my eyebrow at that.

"True, she is not my friend, but I can tell when some has had their heart broken. I myself have had my fair share, thus, I am speaking from seeing the signs, most form my own heartbreaks and then recognizing the signs in her. That, and she is like Sam, not really showing what she feels, so I had to look for the little signs, though I can spot them easily. She will come to you when she is ready." And with that I walked to the stairs and back to the main room, leaving the others standing on the roof in shock.

Beast Boy went to apologize again, though he didn't need to. But I guess that's what she needed, because she became a little more social after that. I went to talk to her on the roof the morning after everything happened. I guess she likes to meditate up there in the mornings. The silence was a bonus, that's for sure, but the view from the top of the tower was breathtaking, especially because it was sunrise. I could see why she would come up her, its so peaceful. I then noticed her, she was floating three feet off of the roof in a lotus position.

"Hey, Raven? Can I talk to you?" I asked. She stopped chanting her mantra, and I heard her heart sped up slightly while her body tensed just a bit though she was still floating, most likely from fear that I was coming to talk to her about last week.

"About?" she finally answered, turning her head just a fraction in my direction.

"I just wanted to let you know, well that you shouldn't keep beating yourself up about what happened last week. You know, when you uhh," she flinched, "yeah that. Look, I know you don't want to talk about it, but after everything that just happened, I don't want you to be stressing over this as well." I explained softly. _This__ is going to be a very awkward conversation._

"I lost control, and I yelled at you. How are you not mad at me? I could have screwed you up even more." She had turned all the way around to face me, anger, sadness, and confused all displayed in her face for a second at the same time. She was standing now, trying to read my emotions, or maybe confused as to how I could be so calm about it.

"Yeah, but everyone loses control eventually. Besides, it only happened once, and when I look back on what I went through, that little incident was nothing. I lose control all the time, I know how it feels. Trust me. I was trying to get you to talk to me so I could tell you that I had already forgave you but you kept avoiding me. Plus, I would have gone to your room if the others would have let me." I added a small smile to my speech, confusing her even more.

"You already forgave me? But why?"

"I know you didn't mean to do it. I can see that much." She scrunched her eyebrows together trying to process the information I was giving her, "Plus you shouldn't be beating yourself up about it anymore. I understand you were hurt and that will time itself just to heal, I would know. Having a broken heart sucks."

"You have had you heart broken? Oh right, nevermind."

"Yeah, but it's been broken multiple times." I walked over to her and stood beside her, before I sat down.

"What are you doing?" she asked, almost annoyed as I sat down next to her.

"Uhh, what does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to join you."

She raised an eyebrow, "You meditate?"

"Right, you were in your room when the rest of the team found that out. I do meditate, but it's more for just keeping myself sane than anything else. It's not like I have any of my other powers anymore thanks to _them._ But I enjoy the relaxing feeling I get when I'm done." I explained, rubbing the back on my neck,_ she might as well know about that from me first_.

"You have other powers?"

"Not anymore. They took those away when I was still an experiment. But yeah, I did." I said solemnly, with the lie I had concocted on the spot last week. They asked about the healing later that day, so I lied about that too, saying I don't know why it didn't die like the others. The all seemed to believe me, now I was hoping Raven would as well.

"I'm. Sorry. That must be hard. To not be able to do the things you use to be able to do." _Yes! She believes me! Okay, keep it going Danny._

"Not really, know one appreciated me being a hero anyways. I was always blamed for things that I did when trying to save the town. Yeah, I smashed a few cars, and flew through a few buildings, but I always beat the bad guy, and they would always say I was a monster, or a villain so not having them is like a relief in a way." I truthfully stated.

"They hated you because you were trying to save their lives? That's messed up. Wait, I thought you lived in the town that Sam did though, the only _hero_ they had was Phantom." She asked, practically accusing me of being phantom, though she was right about that. _Shit! How do I cover this one up?_

"Well," I paused trying to think of something, and coming up with nothing I softly sighed, "yeah."

"Which question is the _'yeah'_ answering?"

"Both the messed up hero thing and the Phantom thing."

"Oh. What did you use to think of Phantom? Before he, you know?" She was prying now, but I wasn't thinking, and I responded as if I was talking to myself. Again, karma.

"He was a hero. And he still is."

"How can he still be a hero in your mind, he killed-" She started to vent.

"No, he didn't." I uninterrupted without thinking, then I realized what I had said and that I either had to lie to get out of it or somewhat tell the truth, "He was _blamed_ for their murders while trying to _save_ them. He couldn't intentionally hurt someone even if he tried." I gave her some truth, _Maybe I could get them to reevaluate my situation about Phantom if I give them some information. Hopefully they will realize that I was a hero._

"What?"

"I know, it confusing, but everything Phantom did was to only protect. I would know, if it weren't for him, I would be dead right now."

"He saved you?" she was still trying to wrap her mind around the idea.

"He saved all of _us,_ multiple times." I explained, _I gave her way to much info, but this might just help them clear my name,_ "So, you want to meditate, or keep talking about depressing past events?" She was thinking but eventually nodded and returning to her floating position, she began to meditate. I got into my own lotus position and began to meditate as well. I think we meditated for a good few hours. I have never felt better then after good mediation session. We had walked down to the common room together, everyone gawking at us.

"What?" we said at the same time.

"Uhh, it's just, uhh that… you know… and that... I mean... uhhh..." BB was stuttering. I face palmed.

"We settled it. Anything else?" Raven said for me, most likely wanting to do the same thing.

"Yeah, James." Robin started.

"Hmm."

"Well, it has been a week, so I guess you are clear to leave the tower."

"Really? I can leave?" I was in shock now.

"Yeah. You seem stable enough, but we want you to take this," he handed me a communicator, "Just in case you need help."

"Right, cause I have no powers. But doesn't this mean I'm _on_ the team?" I asked, Raven was now staring at Robin, most likely wondering how he could give that to me.

"No. Well... No. That one doesn't have the T in the center. It's just so you can keep in touch, and if anything happens, we can find you." He explained. I looked back down to the yellow and black device in my hands, and he was right; there was no yellow T just like he said.

"Thanks, though I don't think I'll need it." I tossed it back to Robin.

"I think we would all feel better if you held onto it." Everyone in the room nodded, even Raven,"You never know." He responded with a grin and tossed it back to me. Catching the small round device in my hand, I hesitantly placed it in my pocket; I looked back at the Boy Wonder.

"Well, thanks. I guess."

Only the surprises didn't stop there. Oh no. Robin decided that it would be best if he _escorting_ me to back to my house. I figured it was just to figure out where I lived and how to get there, but he said it was just to make sure I got home safely. _Sure it was._ I said goodbye and thanks before I walked in via front door and headed straight to my room. It was then that I realized what I had just done this past week._ No! I've grown soft on them!_ I was beginning to care about them, to let them in. This is not good. I can't. I couldn't care about others because it would only hurt me in the end. My downward spiral of dread was stopped by a nice note tacked to my door:

_ROUGE,_

_You need to get back to work. You have been slacking. _

_Oh and take Cujo with you. You'll need him._

_We both agree that you've had more than enough time off._

_-GR & CW_

_ Great, first I slip up and give multiple lies while stuck at the Tower and now I have to work. _I sighed, _oh well._ I reluctantly changed into my ghostly self, pulled out my list and found the first name on it. I whistled for Cujo, "Hey boy, want to go on a hunting trip?" He just barked excitedly, jumping up and landing on my head as I put my finger on the first name and we began taking care of the ghostly problems littered throughout time.

* * *

**So, defiantly my longest chapter, over 10,000 words, although that does include the AN, but ****I, however, don't think this was one of my best chapters, plus I feel like everyone is really OOC, but that could just be me. I don't know. That and it followed the main story-line of "Spellbound" so, yeah. I had a hard time with the simple note at the end, trust me, and I'm not sure how or even if you all are going to like it... But hopefully you do! Anyways, until the next chapter!**


	9. History Always Repeats Itself

**Okay guys. I have good news and bad news. Good news, the next chapter is up. Yay! Bad news, school started this week. Yeah, I know, it means I won't be able to update as often as I would like. However, that doesn't mean I won't update. Just that it will be a longer wait between chapters. Though somehow I don't think that will happen, but I would expect that, but if a chapter come's up earlier then what I plan, well that's just a bonus for you guys!**

******You know what I realized while reading some of the review, of course you do. I think I'm just to hard on myself sometimes, second guessing whether or not something was good or bad. But when you guys said that the last chapter was great, it made my day I was so happy.**

******And, here you go, the next chapter for you all to read!**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Danny POV**

Two weeks. Two freaking weeks to try and play catch up. Do you know how hard it is? Two weeks of taking down multiple ghosts in a row?! I swear! I had to deal with like thirty, one right after another and all of them in different time periods every day! It would have so much easier to just use my ghostly wail and blast them all at the same time. But no, each one had to be at a different spot. _Stupid list._ I think it likes to piss me off on purpose. After I had finally caught up to the regular routine, I was required to take another lecture from my mentors, masters, which ever you want to call them, and then I was finally able to go home. Not like I every really paid attention to them. I got enough of them from Mr. Lancer about how I shouldn't procrastinate and other stuff like that. So I get home after that and what do I find? I find the city had been taken over by some annoying British guy and the city looks like it came out of a cartoon. Like, what the fuck?! I leave for a few days and the city looks like a really messed up reality. _This is so not what I planned on doing for the rest of the day._ I pulled out my communicator, you know... the communicator that I _had_ to keep with me at all times because _god_ _forbid_ the Titans aren't able to get a hold of me every five minutes. So, I pulled it out and hit the tracking button, finding four dots heading to the city hall, or at least what I think was the city hall. I made it just in time to see the four hero's walk thru the front door, while I simply phased thru the back, but I could say I took the back door if I really needed to. I figured they were going to hide out here until they came up with a plan, so I summoned my cane to my hand and waited.

"City hall. We should be able to hide here," Cy said as he opened the double doors, before slouching, "until Mad Mod's tanks come to tear it down." _That's not depressing at all._

"Whoa, that was actually more depressing then what I was going to say." Raven said and she took her hood off walking in behind Cyborg. _Hmmm, I highly doubt that, but okay._ They all walked to the table in the center of the room.

"Do not despair. We will rescue Robin and save the city and stop the Mad Mod!" Starfire pronounced enthusiastically, while everyone else just slid to the floor, "Somehow." Or in Cyborg's case, the lone chair. Beast Boy started to ramble on about some gerbil plan that would have been lame while everyone else agreed that their own plans sucked just as bad. _Okay, and I thought I was Mr. Depressing, but this is just- wow._

"Now I know how George Washington felt when Napoleon beat him at Pearl Harbor." Beast Boy said, falling sideways to the floor. _Where the hell did he learn his history, the back of a cereal box! Seriously, I learn better history in kindergarten!_

"Well he's right about _one_ thing, this _is_ hopeless." She sounded even more depressed, then turned around to face Cy, "We tried everything we could think of, and nothing worked."

"Well why not?! We're dealing with a scrawny little stick man with a tricked out cane. Why can we bring him _down_!" Cy exclaimed, standing up as he ranted. Only Starfire had found the copy of the Declaration of Independence. _Yes, finally, something other than depression. Death be merciful, I thought my sour attitude was radiating off of me and into them._ She started this long speech about how they only needed one plan to take down the stick dude. Everyone brightened up after that, so I decided to make my appearance known.

"Well, well, well, looks like you got it all figured out." I said, nonchalantly as I leaded up against the wall near the document.

"Dude! How long have you been there!" BB exclaimed, seeing as how it looked like I came out of nowhere.

"Since you walked though those doors." I said pointing to the front doors to the city hall, "And I gotta say, you all sounded more depressing then me be for a while. And you, little green one," I pointed at him, "need to actually read a text book, because the back of a cereal box is going to cut it when learning anything." BB just stared at me confused as hell.

"James? Dude how did you even get in here?"

"Same way you did. How else would I have gotten in? The wall?" BB turned away at my answer, obviously feeling stupid about that question.

"Raven, how come you didn't tell us, he was here?" Cy asked Raven.

"I can't feel his emotions like I can with you guys. It must have something to do with the experiments they did to him." she explained, "But how did you even know we were here?"

"Easy, I followed the four dots on the screen of the communicator Robin _forced_ me to keep. Want to tell me why it looks like a bad cartoon threw up all over the city?" I challenged back, raising an eyebrow.

"Mad Mod. Dude more importantly, how were you not affected by the hypno screens?" BB asked.

"Pa-lease, he couldn't hypnotize me _even_ if he _tried."_ I was laughing at the thought of being a mindless zombie forced to do someone else's bidding..

"Why not?" Raven asked, curiously.

"Maybe later, right now we need a plan to take down this Mad Mod douche."

"Yes, we must get the cane that had made Robin wrinkly away from the Mad Mod and back to Robin." Starfire said, plain and simple, I liked it.

"Okay, so the douche had a tricked out cane, two can play at that game." _Oh this was going to be fun._

"Huh?" they all said, staring at me.

"What? I can't use a cane to take down this reject?" I said, twirling my cane in my fingers nonchalantly.

"Dude!" BB exclaimed, snatching my cane out of my hands, to examine it. I quickly grasped the handle and took it back while knocking BB to the ground in the same motion.

"Never. Ever. Touch. My. Weapon. Again. Got it?" I growled at the green dude lying on the floor.

"Okay, note to self, don't mess with James's stuff. Moving on. Now we should plan some form of strategy to take out the Giant Robots!" Cy exclaimed.

"Easy, let BB take this losers cane and give it to Robin. Seeing as he likes to take other people's _things,_" I growled, before continuing with the rest, "while the rest of us distract the king and his pawns." I answered, almost annoyed.

"I like it."

"Me too."

"It'll work…" Raven sighed.

We ended up in the middle of the city, I have no idea, all the buildings were different and I couldn't tell what was what. But we saw Robin, a very old looking Robin, in a chair behind who I assumed to be Mad Mod on some sort of float in the middle of some sort of parade of robots that looked like whined-up toys on steroids, while two tanks broke up ever four rows of soldiers. _Okay... random,_ while the large monitors on the buildings where playing the stupid hypno swirl with the British dudes face in the middle and switching to a British flag. The dude himself was droning on about how much all the brain-dead citizens should 'love their king Moddy' and such while dressed like a king. That's when we acted, blasting a few building to halt the parade. Raven used her back energy to break the largest hypno screen and returned the minds of the people back to their own control, seeing as they all walked away from the parade. I shuddered, mind control sucks. Cy blasted the balloon that was holding up the stupid losers float, causing it to fall to the ground with a thud. Raven then threw a group of the robo whined –ups across the city with her magic. If only I could use my ghostly wail. I sighed.

"Man, I bet real British people don't even like you!" Cy taunted. I only raised an eyebrow at that.

"A frontal assault? Haven't you sprouts tried that already?" he mocked in his British accent, brushing himself off as he stood up. Cy just fired another one of his cannon blasts at the dude. "Right, destroy'em!" He ordered, turning into a robo-puff ball?

"Wow. Cause that's more intimidating." I deadpanned, now I really wish I could use my ghostly wail, just to shut him up. An entire armada of soldiers, tanks, and planes came out of nowhere.

"Where the hell did he get the time to build all of this stuff?!" I whined, rather angrily, while dodging the incoming first strike. Then we attacked, and for the most part I didn't pay attention to what the others were doing, just making sure I kept myself from using my powers now. I didn't need them finding out who I really am, or that I was lying to them. I jumped over a mailbox to land on the back of one of the robots, and tearing off the turn key in its back and used it like an ax to split the robots head in half. Jumping off with a back flip, I landed and turned to face three more to my left. I grinned, _This is going to be fun._ I charged, dodging the gunfire and sliding under the middle one's feet. I popped up after I was behind it and waited for it to turn around, only the one on the right or now would be my left, turned first and tried to fire again. Using the handle on my cane, I trapped the barrel of the rife and holding down with my foot, smash in it head with the other end of my cane, then using my left hand like a hammer, I thrusted upwards on the top of the handle and impaled the head. I ripped it out and jumped the next one, using my cane to put it in a chock hold, and pulled upwards, popping off the head. _They have a weak spot just under the chin! Cool._

"Cyborg! They have a weak spot, just under the chin!" I shouted. I watched Cy tear off one of the whined up keys off the back of a soldier and sent it flying, taking off three other heads in the process.

"Thanks!" Cy called back, heading to help Raven. I turned to gain the attention of the third by chucking the severed robot head at the others hands, forcing it to drop its rifle. Then I launched myself into the air and using my cane like a sword, I pushed it thru the chest cavity and took the machine to the ground.

I looked over to see the robo-puff ball called Mad Mod pull out a bazooka and aim it at Raven and Cyborg. _Oh fuck!_ I charged to pull them out of the way, not caring about the ten or so soldiers that surrounded them. He fired as I reached the edge of the group while they were still acting like deer in the headlights. Pushing in one last burst of speed, I tackled them out of the way as the bomb blew up the robots. That had luckily knocked Raven back into reality as she put up a shield to protect us from the flying metal and heat.

"You guys ok?" I asked, not really panting.

"Yeah, I am now. Thanks man." Said Cy as he got up and tackled another robot while I turned to Raven, waiting for her answer.

"Same. Thanks." She nodded, staring at me intently, "How did you…"

"Fire!" I heard Mad Mod order, gaining our attention, we both turned to see a few cannons fire at the building Starfire was on top of. I watched as they hit their mark and the Alien fell from the top with a scream. I looked over to see Cy being held by a soldier and decided it was time to do the same. I gave a look to Raven, knowing we were going to have to do the same. We faked our surrender and we lifted by the Robots and brought towards the balloon guy, along with Starfire as well.

"What a surprise my duckies!" He called, _OMG, really, duckies!_ "Your little plan didn't work," he said walking towards us, deflating back into his human twig like self, twirling his cane like a master. _He wishes he could be a badass like me._ "Say, where's the little green one? Ran away, has he?" He questioned, I smirked as Starfire lifted her head with a grin.

"The green one is our plan! Beast Boy now!" She shouted. A green flying squirrel attacked the dude as he started to climb around on the inside of his cloths. The red haired man started twitching and running around while trying to get BB out of his jacket. Cy detached his left arm and had it grab the cane, then proceeded with an upward decent before taking it to Robin. Only Mad Mod ordered a robot to fire and damaged Cy's arm before it could reach its destination, and it began to fall to the ground. Mad Mod finally grab a hold of BB and threw him away while running towards his cane, only for the cane to end up in Robin's old man hand. Robin hit a button and he was now his young teenaged self while Mad Mod turned back into his old fart self.

_Nice catch, for an old man,_ I smirked while Robin was holding the same facial expression as he snapped the cane in two. Mad Mod freaked, while all the robots shut down and fell down after dropping us with the rest of the city returning to normal. Robin grabbed the front of the old dude's shirt and gave him a glare. "Finally. The black and while was killing my eyes." I joked.

"Robin! You are unwrinkled!" Starfire exclaimed happily and she tackled him with a hug, I noticed the old man slowly slipping out of his sweater and instead of joining the team on the float, I waited behind it for Mad Mod to attempt escaping. I twirled my cane in my fingers as I waited, and sure enough, he came sneaking around the corner, so I followed him. The team popped their head over the top of the float and glared at the man. I walked around behind him as he turn to face the five angry faces of the Titan's. He turned around and gave a "peace" sign while scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"You know, you're not the only one with a tricked out cane…" I said pulling the handle to reveal the hidden green blade. I cut the back of his pants, allowing them to fall down as he turned to face me.

"Okay… Really not something I needed to see…" Raven deadpanned. I flicked my wrist and the tip of the blade was now resting at the side of his neck. I was now partly smirking again at his fearful face, and partly laughing at Ravens joke.

"Now, put your hand behind your head and get down on the ground." I ordered. He did as he was told while I kept the blade near his neck the entire time. The Titans jumped over the float and Robin cuffed the dude while I sheathed the blade.

"Dude! That's totally awesome!" BB exclaimed pointing at my cane.

"Yeah man. How?" Cy started.

"Specially made, just for me." I cut him off, "Oh and you might want to put some pants on him, that sight might scare some younger eyes." Raven used her magic without hesitation and put his pants back on, ending the burning image we were receiving from his lower half. I gave her two thumbs up and a large toothy grin, while she just rolled her eyes causing me to laugh.

"I'll take him down town, then, I'll meet you guys at the usual pizza place." Robin stated, while walking Mad Mod to the police station.

"Cool."

"Ok!"

"Whatever."

"Yippee!"

"Uhh, no thanks." I said, bored._  
_

"Dude, why not, we will get the best veggie pizza ever!"

"Yes, not friend James, you must join us with the consuming of the pizza. It is what we do after we emerge victorious from battle!" Star pronounced proudly. I looked over to the others as Cy was about to start the usual argument with BB.

"I wouldn't open your mouth if I were you Cyborg. You might not end up in one piece when you finally get there." I threatened, adding a death glare to it. He just closed his already open mouth and side stepped away from Beast Boy.

"Yeah, man, you should, I mean you helped up take down Mad Mod therefore you should join us for dinner." Cy said, scratching his head while thinking.

"Yes, you must! Please! Please! Please!" Starfire bounced, getting really close to my face.

"Okay; one, please back away, I need my space," I started, putting my hands on her shoulders and carefully pushing the alien's away from me, "Two, I'm not hungry, and three, I really just want to lie down and sleep because I'm really tired."

"Not good enough." Cy argued, grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the pizza place. I wish I was able to go intangible and free my wrist, but that would give me away, so I had to suffer with his tight grip and the soles of my shoes gaining new holes because I was dragging my feet trying to get him to stop. No use, as we walked thru the doors and upstairs to what I assumed to be their usual table. Cy then spun around and picked me up, yes he picked me up, by the shoulders and sat me down on the seat in-between him and Raven. _Joy._ I scooted closer to Raven just to be away from the fight that I knew was going to break out.

"Please tell me they won't fight over the pizza?" I part whined, part asked, part whispered to Raven.

She glanced at the Cybernetic teen and the green boy then to me before saying, "I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you."

"Damn." I cursed under my breath. Only Robin showed up at that time. _Even better. Not._

"Hey James, glad to see you joining us." he greeted cheerfully. I just glared at him, before raising an eyebrow. "Uhh, right, so what are we going to get?" He asked nervously to the rest of his group. Cyborg opened his mouth, but interrupted him. I didn't plan on listening to them fight over the whole veggie or meat issue, again.

"Cyborg is going to get his _own_ meat pizza, BB over there is going to get his _own_ veggie pizza and the rest of us are going to get whatever you want." I growled, glaring at Cy and BB as they were going to protest, "Deal?"

"Impressive." Raven stated.

"Yeah, how did you know that?" Robin inquired.

"My friends would have the same fight every day at school. S-Sam was an ultra-reclyclo vegetarian while Tucker was a meat conasuar. I learned how to play Switzerland." I looked down at the table sadly, not wanting to meet any of the shocked of sad faces that were most likely staring at me. I was silent for a few minutes until the server came by asking us for our order. Robin gave her the order before trying to pick up the conversation again.

"So, James? That cane? It's pretty nifty."

"Yeah, it comes in handy I guess."

"Yeah, dude, its sooo cool, I mean your cane has a blade hidden on the inside! That like total ninja status!" BB exclaimed. I couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"I guess so, huh?" I grinned, looking at the awestruck face of the green changeling. Everyone else just gave me a look. "What? Am I not allowed to laugh? Or smile for that matter?"

"No, it's just you don't do it often. It's not a normal feature, but it should be." Robin explained. I rolled my eyes.

"James is happy! Is that not a joyful thing?" Star beamed.

"Yes, Star, that is a good thing." Robin and Star then struck up a conversation on whatever, I didn't really pay attention to it, but instead leaned over to Raven to ask her something.

"So, are they a couple or not, because they are always next to each other." I whispered to Raven, who in turn gave me a look. "What, can't I be curious?"

"Well you are observant, that's for sure. And you are asking me this why?" she responded back in her monotone voice.

"I don't know. You just seemed bored, then again so am I so…"

"You were bored. So you decided to talk to me? Seriously?" she raised an eyebrow at that.

"Err…" _wow, I've got a nice vocabulary, huh?_

"Well that was informative." She deadpanned.

"Yeah... hehe... anyways, anything you want to talk about?"

"Actually yes. You said that Mad Mod wouldn't be able to hypnotize you. Why not?"

"Oh, that." She raised an eyebrow at my answer before I could continue, "I've had experience with the whole mind control thing. Hypnotism would be no problem for me to still be in control of my self."

"You have had your mind controlled? When?"

"I don't really like talking about it, but it was when I was still a hero, in a sense."

"Oh. I see. Sorry." I smiled at her only for the pizza to arrive, breaking off our very awkward conversation about absolutely nothing. Everyone dug in, or rather, the other three boys did, along with Starfire. I think me and Raven were the only ones that knew about portion control because we didn't take half the pizza that was in front of us.

"So, James?" Robin said between mouth full's, "You have some good combat skills. You should take a test run through our obstacle course back at the tower."

"Yeah, I didn't have to use my powers all the time. Wait? What?" _He isn't serious, is he? Please tell me he's not serious._

"Yeah, dude, I wonder if you could beat Cy's time!" BB shouted, thankfully after swallowing his mouth full of food.

"Yeah, I bet he could. I could tell he was holding back when he was taking down those robots Mad Mod created." Robin said matter-of-factly. _No shit I was holding back! If I didn't hold back, the robots would have been scrap metal within seconds!_

"How would you know if I was holding back or not?" I questioned, trying to keep my voice calm, that and I just got out of their tower, and I _really_ didn't want to go back.

"I could just tell. It seemed like it was _too_ easy for you to take them down." He grinned, "That's why I want to see how you do on the course."

"Weren't you an old man at the time though?" I countered, grinning as well. His eyes narrowed slightly.

"What? Are you hiding something else that we should know about?" he countered back. That pushed my buttons, and Raven must have sensed it because she was now looking between me and Robin.

"Good-bye." I growled standing up and walking away from the table and the five very confused teens.

**Raven POV**

James's emotions came on the grid as Robin asked his question, "What? Are you hiding something else that we should know about?" I was now glancing between the two, James seemed angry at that, then suddenly stood up.

"Good-bye." He growled at Robin and walked away from us. I mean Robin just basically accused him of hiding or tampering with evidence. Everyone has secrets, I know I do. James should be allowed to keep his.

"Nice going Robin. You just drove him away." I deadpanned, watching as James disappeared from view. Robin's emotions went from being curious, to shock, then finally, sadness.

"Yeah man, you might want to go apologize." Cy cut in, scratching his head. Robin's shoulders drooped as he realized he just pissed James off.

"Yeah, I should go do that. Meet you guys back at the tower?" He asked, getting up to go catch up with James. We all just nodded as he took off.

"Man, Robin's right though. We need to know everything about him if we want to help him." Cy said, staring after Robin as he disappeared from sight.

"That's true, we can't help if he doesn't tell us more then what we know already. Which is basically next to nothing." I added.

"Dude, it's so unfair. Why does Robin get so antsy all the time. It's like he wants to turn James away half the time." BB whined.

"I do not think Robin means to that way. I believe he is just focused on solving this _crime,_ in a sense." Starfire pitched in.

"That is very true Star. But Robin is so focused that he sometimes forgets. It's only natural for everyone." I had to agree with Star on this one, I mean I have been inside Robin's mind, he sees all of this like a puzzle, and sometimes he gets so focused on solving it, he skips over the proper pieces.

"We should head back to the tower now." Cy stated, getting up and asking for the check. We all just nodded and after the pizza's were paid for, we headed back to the tower. I was about to leave for my room to meditate, but when Robin got back, he would call everyone out to discuss the Phantom case as well as James's case. I sighed and headed over to the window and meditated their until Robin got back. Half an hour later, Robin came thru the main door, and called a meeting.

"So, we need to decided how to proceed with both the Phantom case and James's case." Robin announced, holding up both CD's in one hand, "Which do you want to start with?"

James was the unanimous decision by the rest of us. Robin pulled up the file on the big screen for all of us to see.

"Okay, we all know about his condition, cold body temperature, lower than normal heart rate. Then there is his powers that we all know he lost in his _experiments, _and though were flying and cyrokenesis. Now the new stuff is that he has a cane, with a blade hidden on the inside and had he has at the very least, some basic combat skills."

"Did you guys see the color of his blade though?" I pitch in, "It was green..."

"Yeah, like the blade of Eidolon's scythe. That's another thing. It's the same color, that glowing, smoky like green color." Robin noticed, cutting me off.

"Do you think he knows Eidolon?" BB asked.

"I don't think so. He said he never met him. But that it is possible that both weapons were made with the same materials. Plus, he says that Eidolon's name means Phantom, so it's possible that Eidolon knows Phantom." Robin half way answered.

"If that's true, would he protect Phantom, or turn him in?" Cy asked.

"Good question. If he is a hero, which is hard to tell from that one meeting, he might be on the line with what to do. I mean, Phantom and Eidolon are of the same species in a sense, so would he turn Phantom into us because Eidolon is a Hero? Or would he protect Phantom because they are the same?" Robin stated, though half to himself as if he was thinking out loud.

"Umm, we just got way off topic." I stated.

"Right. Okay, so here in the basic report of the car crash, sorry Cy, that there were about ten men, all wearing white suits and attacked James. Form the state of the café, we know there was a large fight which ended when James flew through the window and hit us. However, there was no one in the shop when we returned to the scene of the crime, so they obviously didn't want us to catch them. There was a lot of blood, and we know it's not from James." Robin reported again, giving us facts again, "So then why did they attack, then leave? What the point of that?"

"That's what we all are wondering," BB said, "because it doesn't make any sense."

"I think that their plan must have not gone the way they intended because James ended up in our care. I do believe that they will try to strike again, but when is the problem." Robin interrupted.

"It says here, that they called James, Phantom. But why? James doesn't look anything like Phantom." I pointed out, causing Robin to frown.

"Yeah, but the news report said that he can easily change his appearance so we shouldn't rule that out either." Cy countered.

"True, but Phantom has not been seen since the tragic incident involving those four teens. Maybe he has been doing the hiding out?" Starfire asked.

"Okay, next was the medical report you gave me Cy, when he was healing at that incredible rate."

"Yeah, he had broken so many bones and they just healed like tape fixing a ripped piece of paper."

"But there were other things as well…" I trailed off as everyone turned to look at me.

"What do you mean?"

"He also had a lot of internal damage, but the most surprising was the scars. You saw them, right Cy?" I asked.

His eye narrowed as he thought about it, "Oh, yeah I saw them with my cybernetic eye, I didn't think you were able to see them." Everyone gave us confused looks, "Here, I'll pull up the image." Cy plugged his arm into the computer and pulled up the digital image of James on the operating table. "Okay, so now…" He paused to type a few codes into the computer, "There, I've highlighted all of the scars on his body." Everyone else's eyes bulged. The scars were now lined with neon red, showing the extent of his marked up body. Not even Robin had some of the gruesome scars that covered James's body.

"Dude." BB whistled. Starfire just gasped.

"Gruesome, huh?" Cy muttered.

"How did he get all of those?" Robin whispered, not believing his eyes.

"These here," I pointed to the screen, tracing the minor ones, "Seem to be battle scars, hence the thinness in the scar tissue and the size, but these," I pointed to the thicker and more noticeable ones, mostly on her chest, "Look more like they were on purpose. I would say some form of torture methods because of how thick and intricate they look."

"Like they gave them to him on purpose. Why the hell would anyone do that to a kid!" Robin shouted.

"Robin look closer," he did, "Look how thick the scars are."

"What are you trying to say?" he inquired narrowing his eyes behind his mask.

"They look like multiple cuts in the same place." Cy realized, "Which means they cut him more than once!" Emotions were escalating to extremes, all anger. Robin's fist were so tightly clenched that you could see every knuckle through his green gloves.

"That's so inhuman! Why would you do that to anyone! Let alone an innocent boy that has done nothing wrong!" Robin shouted again, his face turning red. Only now that the scars where highlighted, _The patterns…_ I noticed something, _They look like…_ something so horrible that I had no words for it. _NO! They didn't!_ My eyes widened with shock, anger, and recognition._ I know he mentioned a doctor, but he acctually meant a surgeon!_ A lamp and two chairs blew up, causing everyone to turn to me.

"Raven? What's wrong?" Cy and Robin asked at the same time. I moved closer to the computer, the familiar clicking of keys as I highlighted a selected portion of the scars, confirming my suspicions that I was desperately hoping weren't true.

"Robin. What does that pattern look like to you." I was trying so very hard to keep my voice neutral, but it was very hard now looking at the disfigured, newly highlighted section of scars.

Everyone was now staring at the red lines on the screen. BB and Star were still trying to figure it out when Cy and Robin's eyes widened to such a size, I could have sworn that they were going to fall out of their sockets. Star's expression copied the other two as she realized what they were, her hands now covering her mouth.

"NO!" Robin hissed, "Raven, you are not telling me those are what I think they are!"

"No way. They didn't. He went thru that?" Cy whispered in horror before remembering something else, "Rae, you said he had no anesthetics, you don't think _that_ was what he meant when he was in that trance do you?" Robin was now boiling with furry.

"He called me a _doctor_ and asked if he was getting _medication,_ so yes Cyborg, I think that's _exactly_ what happened." I was hissing. _That's what the scars are from! He wasn't just a lab rat..._

"You are telling me he was dissected!" Robin roared. BB paled, wide eyed and mouth open while horror-struck at the thought.

"Yes Robin, that's exactly what I'm saying, and by the looks of the scars, multiple times. And then it looks as if _they_ tried to cover up the evidence my adding these ones." I was so close to breaking, I needed to calm down, but with this new revelation that was going to be nearly impossible.

"MULTIPLE TIMES!" Robin was now so overloaded with rage, it was scary. "I WANT HIM HERE IN THE TOWER, UNDER OUR PROTECTION AT ALL TIMES!"

"I agree, but we have to get him to agree with us on that, otherwise we would be kidnapping him." I reasoned, though anger was very apparent in my voice. The alarm sounded and told us that there was an emergency at the park. Now Robin was going to channel his anger into the problem, great. Just what we needed.

"Titan's go!" He said barely louder than a whisper. _That's bad. Really bad._ We all rushed to the park, only to find a Robot with a green Mohawk made of fire attacking some sort of animal. Robin threw some explosive disks at the villain as he was getting ready to kill the poor animal, at least I think it was an animal. BB, who was a wolf, started howling again, like he did with that monster thing in the warehouse. The Robot turned to us, growling.

"Who dare's to interfere with my hunt?! To interfere with the hunt of Skulker, The Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter!" He glared at us, his green eyes matched his flaming hair. _A_ _g__host! Are you freaking kidding me!_

"You are going down. Titan's Attack!" Robin cried and charged, pulling out his bow staff. He jumped and was going to smash the robots head in and send him to the ground, only for nothing to happen, as he flew thru the metal man when he turned a bluish hue.

"What the…?" Robin asked, completely caught off guard. The Robot just turned to face him and threw a punch that collided square with Robin's face, sending him across the park.

"Did you whelps really think you could beat me, Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter!" He proclaimed.

"Man, ghost don't exist." CY just stated off-handedly, rolling his eyes. At that statement, a rocket launcher popped out of his left shoulder and he fired straight for Cy. We all dived out of the way from the green explosion, leaving a decent sized scratch mark and a small crater in its destruction.

"Dude! Where the hell did that come from?" BB whined, turning back into his human form.

"Hahaha, you whelps will be nice additions to my trophy collection back home!" He laughed in excitement. Only I got that strange feeling again, _Eidolon!_ I began to search for him, trying to locate him, hoping he was here to help. But he never appeared. Like he was just, watching? _Why the hell is he just watching! _Cy fired his sonic cannon at the metal man while sitting on top of BB who changed into a raptor and charged. The only thing that happened was that the attacks had no affect on this being, Skulker as he named himself. Starfire began to rain her starbolts down only to have the same effect. Skulker returned the attack by firing another missile aimed for Star. I used my magic and redirected the missile to the Robot, scoring a hit.

"You are going to wish you didn't do that!" He roared in angry as hell. His armor was affected by the blast, as parts were now scorched and dented, while a few screws here and there were now missing. I just raised an eyebrow from under my hood, while Robin attacked from behind, bow staff in his hands. The loud clang of metal on metal ricocheted throughout the park as the armored tank of a man sailed a few feet in the air, tearing up the grass as he landed.

"Nice one Rob!" Cy shouted, following it up with another sonic blast, pushing the ghost into a tree trunk. Starfire launched a few starbolts and the fallen armored man, damaging his suit even more. Then, I attacked. I encased a lamp post and hit him like a baseball, effectively launching him closer to BB who was now in the shape of a bear.

"That is it!" Skulker roared, "You have all earned yourselves a spot on my wall as pelts!" firing a green blast from his wrist, hitting BB square in the chest.

"Ewww! Dude, that is so gross!" BB whined, rubbing his chest while shuddering from the sickening thought. I think we were all grossed out now. A glowing green machete emerged from his wrist as he charged at Robin, slicing his staff in half, before going for a fatal blow. Robin did a few back flips to evade before throwing a few explosive disks that the ghost, only for them to sail right thru him. BB attacked as a ram, but Skulker only grinned and raised his arm high in the air, slicing at the changeling. At the last second, BB transformed into a turtle as the blade slashed his shell. Cy charged, getting ready to tackle him as the blade made an upward cut and removed his left arm while Skulker flew into the air. I flew over to where Beast Boy was, seeing if he was hurt only to hear a shrike. I turned to see Starfire being thrown into the ground and Skulker getting ready to run her thru when a green beam hit the ghost square in the chest, knocking him off balance before some invisible force threw him across the park. A deep, eerie voice cut through the air, telling us that there was a new player.

"I don't think so, Skulker."_ That has to be Eidolon. But why did he wait so damn long before interfering!_

"Who dare's interfere with my hunt this time?!" Skulker challenged.

"Me." Was the simple reply as Eidolon appeared feet in front of Skulker, sending a punch to his face, knocking him to the ground. "I honestly didn't think you would stoop that low and hunt normal humans, but I guess you rejected your title as the _Greatest_ _Hunter_ to just _a_ _hunter_." Eidolon teased.

"Another Whelp? Come to join my hunt as the prey?" The hunter ghost teased back.

"Technically speaking," Eidolon started, firing another green blast from his hand, "You have never stopped hunting me. But I guess you don't see the resemblance?"

"Ghost child?" Skulker whispered in confusing, tilting his head to the side.

"Yes, Skulker, your number one target has returned. But you don't seem all that thrilled about it." He seemed so bored with the interaction, not even his deep voice seemed to show emotion. Skulker grinned as he realized who he was now facing.

"Well, well, well. It seems that you are _alive_ after all. I was getting worried that they had _killed_ my rare, one of a kind, prey. It looks like my luck had held out after all." He replied sadistically, "Now I shall make sure that this time you pelt will rest at the foot of my bed whelp!" That's when I began to notice that something was off. Skulker gave off a completely different feeling than Eidolon did. Skulker's was darker, full of death and destruction, while Eidolon's had more of a _life_ to it, in a sense. Even though the death was still there, it just wasn't as prominent as Skulker's. _What the hell is that suppose to mean?_

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You know him?" Cy asked, very confused, of course we all were.

"Of course we know each other; he has been threatening to have my _pelt_, which is still gross, rest somewhere within his house numerous times. And that is still not going to happen." Eidolon said, off-handedly before sending another blast at the metal hunter. The hunter responded by firing half of his rockets at his new target, only for a green dome shield to block them.

"My turn." Eidolon laughed, launching himself into the air again while firing off a few more of his beams at Skulker while dodging the incoming energy beams form another weapon strapped to his other shoulder. They continued to trade blows until Eidolon was hit by one, and sent to the ground, forming a crater quickly followed with the other half of his missile's.

"Now, Phantom, prepare to be a pelt hanging above my fire place!" Skulker laughed in triumph. _Wait! Phantom! Did he just call Eidolon, Phantom? Eidolon is Phantom?_

"Ewww! Dude, that is still gross, and you need to find a new target." Eidolon said, standing up, only his hood fell down while he stood up, allowing us to get a good look at his face. I gasped, along with the rest of my team. I would have never thought that Eidolon was a teenager, or even Phantom. But now seeing that he is Phantom and that he matched the picture, I was able to believe it. I was already staring at his young face, the long, glowing, silvery-white hair tied in a low pony tail while his bangs hung in his face, his skin a deathly pale color, and his eyes, the radioactive green shinning brightly like a neon sign. None of us had expected that; expected that Phantom was here helping us when he is wanted for murder.

"You really shouldn't have done that!" Eido- I mean, Phantom growled. He reached his right hand to the same shoulder stopping a few inches above it, like he had a weapon strapped to his back when a scythe suddenly appeared out of thin air. He brought his hand down, and brought the weapon to his side. Most of the staff was behind his legs while the tip of the blade was pointing down at the ground away from his body, allowing everyone to see the design of the blade as well as the staff. His hand was placed a fourth of the way down from the top of the black staff, maybe leaving a foot and a half of space in-between his hand and the shimmering green blade. Skulker's demeanor changed instantaneously as the scythe appeared in Phantom's hand.

"No, your- your him. You're The Rouge." The hunter quivered, obviously the name held a meaning that none of us understood.

"Yes, Skulker. That is correct. I am The ROUGE." Phantom simply agreed, lifting his other hand to his back, and gripping the side of his hood. And with one motion, he threw the hood back on his head, covering his face, "And you just went from being the _hunter,_ to the _hunted."_ Skulker's green eyes widened in fear as Phantom flew in a forward charge, his scythe cocked back before swinging it forward, cutting off the rocket launcher from his shoulder. Then spinning the split second afterwards, he took of the laser blaster from the other shoulder and knocked him to the ground with the butt end of the scythe. Skulker flipped over loading his machete to defend himself.

"The rumors that have been floating thru the ghost zone, they're all about you?" Skulker asked, still in shock from the news.

"Yes." Phantom agreed again, boredom hinted in his tone. He floated over to the metal hunter and with the flick of his wrist, he cut off the head to the robot. If he wasn't a murderer, this recent action was not going to help his case. He then bend down to pick up the head and pulled out a green blob.

"I am the Skulker! You should fear me! Fear me!" The blob squeaked, its voice rose by like five octaves at least.

"Dude! He looks like a booger!" BB and Cy whined, completely grossed out. Star, Robin, and I just stared in disbelief._ That's Skulker? The green blob that's about the size of a frog, is Skulker?!_

"Wow, taking lessons from Boxy now are we?" He mused, pulling out a _thermos?_ And sucking up the green blob of Skulker in a blue light, "But what does it matter, at the end of the day, I still get to cram you sorry ass into this thing like I always do though."

"Phantom! You're under arrest!" Robin shouted, taking advantage of the situation now that Skulker was not in the picture. Phantom just turned around to face us, landing on the ground so that he wouldn't be as intimidating or a threat, even though he was.

"Really? You want to arrest me? For what? What could I have possibly done, other than save your lives?" He stated, cocking his head slightly to the left.

"You know what you did! You killed those four teenagers!" Robin shouted back, getting angry.

"Oh right, I forgot. I'm wanted for _killing _the only people that have _ever_ tried to _help_ me. My bad." He hissed, obviously angered by that accusation. I remembered what James had told me the other day, how he knew Phantom and that Phantom tried to save his friends, not kill them. Robin was taken aback by that statement and currently speechless.

"You're a friend of James. Huh?" I asked, his head whipped around to look me in the eyes, "He says that you didn't kill them, but were trying to save them. Is that true?"

Phantom took off his hood before answering me, "Yes, that's true. I would never hurt someone that was innocent. I couldn't. It goes against everything I fight for." he solemnly stated, looking down to the ground. _Why does he look so familiar?_

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Robin spat, "You don't hurt the _innocent_ yet you killed people?! Kids!"

"NO!" Phantom roared as he became hostile, his rage boiling as he glared at Robin, "I would never hurt my friends! They were everything to me!"

"Wait? What?" Cyborg asked, baffled.

"They were your friends?" Robin asked, now very confused, but quickly regained his composer as he accused Phantom of more things, "If your James's _friend,_ then why didn't you break him out of the place the cut him open like a dead frog!" Phantom's eyes widened as the remaining color drained from his face, making him even paler then what he already was.

"How? How d-do y-y-you k-kno-ow that?" He stuttered, somehow terrified that we knew.

"We were reviewing his case file just before the attack? Why?" I asked, cutting in before Robin could. _Why was he afraid of us knowing that? Isn't that a good thing because we can help him?_

"Yeah? Why are you afraid of us knowing that?" Robin asked.

"James doesn't like people knowing that." Phantom whispered, staring at the ground in panic. Gears were evidently turning in his head, but about what I wasn't sure. Then, snapping his head up, "I have to go." And with that, he left, flying away before dissipating from sight invisibly.

"That was most strange, was it not?" Starfire asked.

"Defiantly," I agreed.

"I wonder if he really meant what he said?" Cy pondered, rubbing the back of his head.

"When we find him again, we will ask him." Robin said, determined to get the answers.

"Raven, you had said that the Phantom attempted to do the rescuing of James's friends? What did you mean?" Star asked curiously.

"Yeah, I have to agree with that. What did you mean?" Robin asked.

"James told me that Phantom tried to save his friends, not hurt them. And that Phantom was blamed for the murders. I get the feeling that it's all just a misunderstanding. But he also emits a white glow, making me wonder if he could really hurt someone that was innocent?" I explained. He was glowing brighter when he was attacking Skulker, a brighter white color, possibly a benevolent ghost? Skulker was giving off a glow as well, but his was more of a darker tint, more of malevolent type of aura. _But if Phantom is benevolent, then he wouldn't be able to kill those kids. Not even if he absolutely hated them. Which means that his story checks out, and that he _was_ trying to save them…_

"What, is that suppose to mean?" BB whined, confused as usual.

"It means that Phantom is a benevolent ghost, meaning that he tries to protect, not harm."

"I still want to hear this from James as well." Robin muttered, obviously he didn't believe the evidence I just gave him. "I'll meet you back at the tower. I'm going to get James."

"Uhh, you sure that's a good idea. I mean he isn't too pleased with you at the moment. Even if you did apologize." Cy warned, only to receive a glare from the boy wonder.

"I'm bringing him to the tower. Tonight." And with that, he headed out to find James. The rest of us just watched in silence as he headed off into to the night.

We got back to the tower and prepared the same room James was in last time, knowing Robin was going to keep in the tower from now on. Or at least until we were able to get rid of the people that hurt him. That still made my blood boil. _They cut him open and studied his insides, multiple times! Just because he was different! Not even Slade would deserve that! So why the_ hell_ would they do that some poor kid!_ The mechanical doors to the main room opened up to a beaming Robin and a very pissed off James. _Oh, t__his is going to end well…_

"And I am here again, why?" anger very apparent in his tone, as he glared at Robin. Robin continued to ignore the glare and walked straight over to the large screen; his case file still opened on the highlighted section of his scars, and Robin pointed to the very distinguishable vivisection scar.

"What to explain to us what this is?" Robin asked, his happy demeanor changing to a cold and calculating investigator type manner. James paled, and went wide eyed at the images on the screen.

"You. You know?" he whispered, still standing on the other side of the room. "You know what those are?"

"Yes. But we are hoping they aren't. Can you tell us what they're from?" James nodded at Cyborg's question, looking to the floor while he made his way over to us, slowly sitting down on the couch. Silence filled the already tense air as we waited for him to respond.

"They are exactly what you think they're from." He whispered, after a few minutes, then even quieter, "Vivisections." No one wanted to talk after that confession.

"Please, James? Why did you not tell us?" Starfire asked, she had asked the million dollar question that we all were wanting an answer too. James didn't move, still staring at the ground, his eyes seemed lost and hazy, like he wasn't listening to us.

"Because," he choked out, "it's not something I like to remember. Talking about it is worse." Tears slowly made their out of his closed eyes and down his face, falling to the carpet below while one of his hands clutched the shirt on his chest, gripping the cotton tightly in his hand, "The pain." His breathing was slightly haggard with is silent sobs. I could help but feel sorry for him, and with all he has went thru, to have to relive it, I didn't blame him for not wanting to tell us. I know sure as hell I wouldn't want to. Robin had sat down next to him, his hand on James's shoulder, trying to make him feel comforted and safe.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry you have to relive that, just to help us, but James, that's a good thing. It means we can help you. I want to ask you something else. Is that ok?" James only nodded, still not moving from his position on the couch. "What do you know about Phantom?"

His head snapped up and turned to face Robin, "He is not guilty of the crimes they are blaming him for." James said flatly.

"Then why would they-"

"Because of what Phantom is, they think he is evil. Do you know what that's like, to be hated just because you are something that the general public deems an evil entity? He didn't get a chance to defend himself. To give his side of the story. They just attacked, saying he should be put down like a rabid dog." He answered I knew that feeling, being a half demon, it sucked. Everyone had said I was evil just because Trigon is my father. "Raven?" That broke me out of my thoughts.

"Yes?"

"You can see his aura? Right? You can see that he isn't evil." He asked, pleading almost as he looked to me, his face showing the signs of being lost and broken.

"Yes. I saw it. White. Meaning protector. Good." He nodded. "That's his obsession right? To protect."

"Yes." James whispered.

"How did you even know Phantom was here?" Robin asked, thinking James let something slip. That _is_ a good question.

"Because, he is my friend. And after all that we have gone thru, he needs me just as much as I need him." James answered quickly, curling himself up on the couch, wrapping his arms around his knees. "Can-can I go home now? I want to go to sleep."

"I think we would all feel better if you stayed the night in the tower." Robin said, holding his breath. In the blink of an eye, James had uncurled his body from the ball he was in and jumped off the couch in an aggressive stance facing Robin, a scowl on his face.

"You want me to stay here again?!" He hissed, balling up his fists while he continued to glare at the Boy Wonder.

"Yo, man, it's just for the night. We even have the same room set up for you like lat time." Cy explained, trying to calm him down.

"I just got out of this place and you want me to come back! Last time I checked, this was a house, not a hospital or mental ward!" He hissed again, this time turning to face Cyborg. Cy put his hands up in a surrendering position while backing up slowly.

"We should probably have a doctor look him over while we're at it." BB whispered to himself. James heard him and gripped his head groaning as he shut down. His body began to shake as his hands tightening around fistfuls of his bleached blond hair, his eyes wide open. And I saw it, we all saw it. His pupils dilated almost to the size of his irises while he stared at Beast Boy. Then, everything stopped. The shaking, his groaning quieted, the scowl across his face became a blank expression, while he straightened up letting his hands falling back to his sides as he stood still, staring off at nothing in particular.

"Okay. What the hell just happened?" Cy whispered to Robin, who only shrugged but continued to eye the over-abused teen cautiously.

"James? Are you okay, yes?" Starfire asked. His head tilted to the right just slightly, as if he and heard Starfire, but he wasn't looking at her, but at Beast Boy instead. _Why would he…_

"Oh. Shit." I whispered, wide eyed with realization as to what was about to take place. Everyone but James looked at me, worried as hell. And they should be. James was gone. Robin was slowly beginning to turn back to James, who still hadn't moved. His pupils then reverted to the size of pin heads as an expression of pure rage was displayed across his face. The same rage I saw when he destroyed the med bay. _No. _And all hell broke loose in that second.

There was no time for anyone to react.

No time to warn anyone.

Not even time to blink.

James attacked, launching himself over the couch and in Beast Boy's direction, snarling like a rabid animal.

* * *

**And I know, I know. A cliffy, right here, just as I told you that school has started, but seeing as how yesterday was the first day of the new semester, the next chapter should be up in reasonable time. Plus I already have half of it done. But after that though, there will be longer waits between the chapters. If you just bear with me on this, I'll try to make it worth the wait. Its only 16 weeks, not including spring break. So, that would be the longest time you would have to wait for the next chapter, though that most likely won't happen.**

**Well, not including that depressing news, what did you think? I'm not a big fan of the episode Revolution, so if that part seems boring or choppy, sorry, I was lazy and didn't feel like trying to write out the whole episode, or even part of that episode that much. But if you guys get confused, I'll clear it up for you, or I guess you could PM me you questions and I'll try to answer them for you. **

**Did it seem like anything moved to fast? Or is that just me, if it is just me then I might be being to hard on myself again. If it did seem to move to fast, well then I guess that's my bad. Well anyways, see you some time next week with the new chapter! Peace Out**


	10. Under the Sea

**Hey Guys! As promised the next chapter after that cliffy! Oh and even more awesome news, I have a beta now! I'm beyond excited and so thankful for ShadowedFang to be my beta you have no idea! And now, on with the chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**GIW POV**

"Yes sir. Yes sir. I know sir. Yes sir. It won't happen again sir. Of course sir. Right away. Goodbye sir." Agent O hung up the phone and pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing. _Four hours._Four freaking hours of being on the phone trying to gain an extended clearance for their mission, trying to get approved for the extension they desperately needed so his team could grab Phantom._Phantom is now protected by the Titan's to an extent. So that complicates matters even more._

"So… What did the Boss say?" Agent K asked, breaking the other agent's thoughts.

"We have permission to strike again. But if we fail this time, well we shouldn't go back to base." He grimaced; he didn't want to think about what punishment they would have to go through if they failed again. Agent K mimicked his expression.

"And what about the Titan's? How should we proceed with them trying to help?"

"We will have to wait for them to leave him alone. When they leave him unguarded. This time, we can't fail." Agent O replied. The other was deep in thought, thinking on how they could make this work. The Titan's were the good guys as well, though if they assumed that Phantom was a hero, then they would have a very hard time trying to recapture the dangerous ghost. Well, half ghost.

Ahh, yes, the rarity of Phantom. Half human, half ghost. Truly one of a kind. And a dangerous one at that. To be able to hide like that, in plain sight, it was so obvious now as to why no one could find him. Could track him. He was thought of as just a human, while Phantom was just a ghost. Phantom was an impossibility; yet, he existed. That was why they needed him back. To study him, to learn more about him; and through him, more about ghosts. He was beginning to form an idea.

"We should wait for him to leave the Titan's. When he does, then we kidnap him-"

"No, we tried that last time. That's how he ended up with the Titan's. Or do you not remember that? He nearly killed Agent M, who is still in the ICU. Or that he took us down without any effort." The agent reminded. That was right. Agent M had been such an outstanding rookie, almost ready to be promoted, and then Phantom happened. _All the more reason Phantom needed to be brought back in and locked up._

"Well what about we ambush him at the tower." Agent raised an eye brow, "Let me finish. We ambush him while he is sleeping and the Titan's are out. Use the Maximus on him so he can't go ghost and take him down. He will be too shocked to even think, and without his powers, how will he be able to stop us?" The other agent grinned at the idea.

"So, we should then begin monitoring the Titan's. Wait for them to move into the city, we could even hire someone to lure them out." He grinned. The two agents sat down and began writing out the layout for their new strategy while ordering a rookie to gain access to all the video and still cameras within the city.

**Raven POV**

James had moved so fast, he was on Beast Boy within the second, both hands gripped around his neck while holding him in two feet off the ground at the same time. All of us were too stunned to even move from the sudden change in demeanor. It wasn't until BB's lips started turning blue from the tight grip that we all sprang into action then, trying to rescue BB. Star, Cy, and I began to try and unlock the hands and fingers that seemed to be glued to the changelings throat, while Robin was trying to keep BB conscious as well as getting James off BB.

It was taking too long, and Cy realized that, so apologizing under his breath, he let go of BB and sent a full forced punch at James's head. James had to let go, dropping BB in Starfire and Robin's arms as he flew into the couch. He flipped himself off the ground and attacked back. I moved over to help BB to at least make sure he was breathing the right way. My hands turned blue as I began to heal the tender skin on his neck while he was taking in as much air as his lungs would allow, hacking coughs as he took in too much air, his neck bright red and starting to bruise from where James's death grip use to be. Star and Robin began to help BB up, holding him as he attempted to stand, staring at the battle between Cy and the kid that had nearly killed him in complete fear.

"Raven, what the hell is going on! Why is he attacking us!" Robin demanded. I just stood there, horrified at what he was doing.

"I think he is in another hallucination. Like when he destroyed the infirmary." I answered eventually, looking at a worried Robin.

"No. You. Don't!" Cy shouted, grabbing our attention in time to see him blocking another punch to his gut and sending one of his own to James's ribs. James just sidestepped as he blocked the incoming fist with ease, before throwing a left hook to Cy's head. Cy somehow caught the fist and in one motion, flipped James to the ground. James quickly countered by flipping them over so he was in control and pinning Cyborg before he threw his right fist at Cy's face, only to be caught again. That's when it got dangerous. There was a glowing blue light emitting from James's right fist, as it was still lodged in Cyborg's hand. Ice began to slowly encase his hand, and traveled down Cyborg's arm at a snail's pace.

"Wh-wh-wh-what the fuck!? Help!" Cy screamed, "I thought he didn't have his powers!" Cyborg was freaking out now. We all were, James just raised his threat level by activating his ice powers that he shouldn't have. I sent a blast of magic and knocked James off sending him back into the couch.

"He shouldn't." Robin was in a scared awe. Star and Beast Boy were in the same state, wide eyed at the impossible fact that James just used his ice abilities to freeze Cyborg's arm. Cy had gotten up and tried to break the ice, only to fail miserably.

"What? What the hell?!" He continued banging, "What the hell is this stuff made out of!?" He smacked his arm on the ground out of frustration again, "Diamonds?!" He shrieked as he continued to repeatedly smash his frozen arm into the floor, though he was tackled from behind as James took him down to the ground again. Robin intervened then, attacking James, taking him to the floor in the same manner as he did Cyborg.

"James! You need to think about what you're doing! You need to stop!" Robin shouted at him, though it wasn't helping. I think it was making it worse. James struggled beneath Robin, and getting his feet beneath himself, he kicked, throwing Robin off of his back, and turned to charge. An ice dagger formed in his hand as he charged at Robin again. Robin dodged the attack, but grunted as the ice slit the skin on his arm, looking at James in shock. James only smirked. Then I recognized the situation. It was just like when we first met Starfire. She was confused, scared and the boys attacking her didn't help. It was almost the same, James being in Starfire's position while we were attacking and yelling at him. Fighting wasn't the answer, talking was. They were still throwing blows at each other. I created a shield between the two before standing front of Robin.

"James. You need to stop. Please. You're hurting my friends." I said, trying to keep calm, knowing that he could attack me as well, but I hoped that by not yelling, it would help. That it would show him I meant no harm. And it seemed like it did because he stopped in his tracks, the ice in his hand disintegrating, while staring at me completely mystified. So I continued, "It's okay. We don't want to hurt you. Please, just calm down. We won't be mad at you."

"Speak for yourself." BB muttered, still rubbing his throat. The rage returned for a second at the comment, I sent a glare at BB before looking back to James, seeing that he was ready to pounce again.

"James. Hey, hey. It's okay. It' okay. We aren't mad at you; we know it's not your fault." He turned to look at me, "Please, just calm down and everything will be okay. It will all be okay." The rage had disappeared and was replaced with regret and fear. Tears started to form in his eyes as he stared at me blinking. His bottom lip started to quiver as he took a step forward. Unconsciously, I stepped back at the same time.

His eyes widened at my action as he looked to the ground, "I-I'm s-s-sor-r-ry." he said, barely loud enough to be called a whisper while shame overlapped his tone.

"How? How did you… Did you know to do that?" Robin whispered to me.

"It's okay. We're not upset with you. Everything's fine." I turned my head towards Robin, "I recognized the situation." I saw Robin's eyes suddenly widened as he reached for his throwing disks.

"Raven!" He tried to warn. I had turned just in time to see a blond ball of hair attach itself to my right shoulder while two long arms wrapped themselves around me and my tiny frame. James had tackled me, and I waited for the hard ground to connect with my back, for him to stand up and begin using me as a punching bag, but it never came. That's what surprised me, that it wasn't the same type of take down as with BB and Cyborg or even Robin. It was different, we weren't moving, just standing there. There was an unfamiliar sound but I ignored it as I understood that he wasn't trying to crush me. I finally placed the sound that was emanating from my shoulder when I felt a wetness spread across my leotard on that same side. _He's crying? On me? Wait? What just happened?!_ My eye was now twitching from the unexpected and nonlethal contact.

"Raven?" Robin asked, now confused.

"What. Just. Happened?" I could feel everyone's eyes on my back as James was now latched on to me like a scared child.

"I. Don't. Know." I breathed, "Help. Me." I was just as confused as he was. Robin had walked around to face me and assess the situation. I could feel James's hands as they balled up the fabric of my cloak in his hands, his racking sobs breaking through every once in a while. Robin had started to pry James's off only he let out a soft moan that sounded a lot like _no_ as he continued to scrunch more and more fabric into his hands while tightening his '_hug'_ around me. His tears began to drip onto my neck as he moved his head from my shoulder to my neck. I stared wide eyed at the rest of the team as they all moved to face me. I couldn't really move, other than twitching every once in a while. I was lost.

Never in my life had I been put into this kind of situation. Ever. And now there was a teen, one that just tried to kill half of us, crying quietly on me. I didn't know what to do. My hands just seemed to float in the air, palms facing each other and outstretched towards my team. _'Help me'_ I mouthed to my team, who still seemed to be petrified at my current situation. _Why me? Of all the people in the room, why me?_

"Dude." BB croaked, "I don't know how you haven't blasted him off of you yet? If that was me, I would be in the ocean by now." I just gave him a glare, causing him to shrink back.

"What do I do?" I asked my eyes flickering between the kid clamped to my side, and my friends. They just stared at me, unsure as well. _Perfect._

"Try comforting him?" BB asked.

"Right. I'll just do that cause you know, I'm as comforting as a _cactus_." I glared at BB.

"Raven? You could hug him back." I raised an eyebrow at that suggestion, "Uhh, you might want to…" Robin started, pointing at James. Yeah, could see that, he was starting to get really heavy, not really holding himself up, just hanging off of me, and that was an awkward position because he was like a full foot or so taller than me.

"James? Can you let go? Please?" I asked, only to receive a whimper, "Then can we please move to the couch. You are getting very heavy." I asked, more like whispered. He was starting to lose his footing beneath himself, forcing me to hold him up. And that was getting very hard to do. His head moved slowly in was I think was a '_yes'_ motion. I looked to the team and gave a small nod for them to help me, and we slowly made our way to the couch, but he would grip my cloak tighter if he felt like we were trying to get him off of me.

Finally making it to the couch, he curled up next to me, burying his head farther into my neck and shoulder, while his arms flexed and tightening his hold around me while his fingers still continued to pull more cloth into his hands. His sobbing was slowing down, his hot breath constantly hitting my neck. This had to be the most embarrassing thing to _ever_ happen to me in my life. I saw BB try to take a picture of the scene, and instantly hissed at him, causing the camera in his hands to blow up. He dropped the remains and hid behind Starfire.

The team eventually left, trying to clean up some of the damage and help Cy remove the ice that was still attached to his arm. I attempted to break free numerous times, only for him to clutch me tighter, pulling himself closer to me every time, and eventually curled up in a ball on my lap while still crying on my shoulder. I ended up sitting there for most of the day, and every few hours I would try again to loosen his grip. Only for the same result to take place.

After about fifteen minutes after my final attempt to break free, he had fallen asleep on me, as I could hear his muffled snoring in my neck. Slowly and very, very carefully, I peeled him off of me. His grip on my cloak however, didn't loosen. The cloak was pulled over my head and I ended up on the floor and my cloak ended up staying with him. I tried to pull it out of his hands but he just subconsciously pulled it closer to his body. It became a tug-of-war for my uniform. I huffed as I dropped my end, giving up, seeing as how it was now apparently his. I watched him, a little ticked off, as he took my cloak and wrapped himself up into a cocoon with only half of his head poking out the top. He did all of that while he was asleep I remind you, then and only then, when he was all curled up with my cloak, did he finally relax. BB had walked up to me as I stared at the sleeping teen on the couch. He opened his mouth and was about to say something only for me to interrupted him.

"If you _ever_ try to blackmail me for this, you will wake up in _anotherdimension_ the next morning." I growled, my threat aimed mostly at Beast Boy and Cyborg. And with that, I left, heading to my room for a different cloak, seeing as how I wasn't getting _that_ one back any time soon. I returned to the main room to find the others still trying to get the ice off of Cy's arm with no luck.

"Man! What the hell is this ice made out of? I mean seriously, it doesn't melt, it doesn't break, and the ice is coating the insides of my arm as well!" Cy half shouted half whined. I couldn't blame him, whatever that ice is, it's not normal.

"I guess you're stuck with an ice arm then; at least until James wakes up, whenever that is." I stated. It was obvious, if they couldn't get it off, then the only person that could remove it was James. Cy looked up at me with a scowl.

"This isn't funny, Raven." Cy growled back.

"At least you weren't tackled by some teen and had to sit with him while he was crying on you for half a day when he was trying to kill everyone else seconds before." I snapped back, Cy cringed. He knew, and everyone else knew that I had personal space issues and that my powers were controlled by emotions. The fact that James was literally causing both of those to go haywire was a bad thing.

"Maybe it was his way of saying that he has a crush on you!" BB joked, rolling on the floor a second later, laughing. Cyborg was suppressing his laughter but I could tell he thought it was funny because he failed to hide his laughter. I swear a mirror somewhere broke at that statement. _I'm going to meditate now._ I started to walk away when BB started up again.

"I mean, he defended you when I called you creepy, even forcing me to apologize and stuff." He was laughing in between words. I stopped and turned slightly looking back to the couch were the sleeping teen was. _He. Defended me. Even after I…_

"What?" I asked Beast Boy, who was still on the floor.

"Well, I mean, he stood up for you, it kind of took all of us by surprise." Cyborg answered me. I looked at the cybernetic teen, confused and curious at the same time. He just handed me a disk and continued to work on his arm. Quickly turned back I left the main room in haste, needing to have a serious talk with my emotions. _It's going to be another long night._

I had made it to my room quickly and quietly, locking my door as it shut behind me. Walking over to my dresser, I picked up the mirror that would take me to my mind. Once inside, I headed over to the spot all my emotions would be waiting for me. They were all there, Happy, Brave, Timid, Wisdom, Rage, Fear, Rude, and Affection. She had to be here, of course, not that she wanted to be either, not after Malichor, but it was a group meeting so yeah, I needed them all.

"What do I need to know, or rather, what should I do?" I asked bluntly. I wanted to get the information I needed and get out. They all started shouting at once, giving me the advice they thought I should use.

"Quiet! One at a time. Wisdom?"

"Well, it seems like you should thank him for defending you-"

"But kill him for that attack." Rage hissed, interrupting Wisdom before she could finish. _Oh great, it's going to be one of those meetings. Yay me._

"We should boldly approach him and-"

"But what if he turns us away?"

"BB joked about him liking us, but what if it's true?"

"Wait, what?" I looked to Affections.

"Hmm?"

"What did you just say."

"Oh, what if what BB said is true?" That got me thinking.

"Since when did BB ever tell the truth about that kind of stuff." Rude said, burping afterwards. I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, maybe that wasn't the best question. What should I be feeling about this?" I asked, mostly getting to the point.

"That depends, what has happened to make you ask?" Wisdom questioned. What has happened? Sure, he was a jerk at first, but he had a soft spot. Then he was attacked, and later we found out he was experimented on, losing his powers in the process. He has been abused and tortured; his mental state had become a mess because of it. And recently he clung on to me because… because… why did he pick me. Of all other people he could have grabbed, he picked me. Why?

Now I was even more lost. What should I do? No. I couldn't. It was too soon. But, what about James? Was that even true? Or was BB just messing with me? Gah! This is all too much! I won't do anything but help him get better and keep these monsters that have hurt him with such methods away from him. Wait. Did that mean I was being protective over him? No. I didn't, right.

"You have a lot to think about, yet you can't answer the question, not yet. To which one might ask, is that a good thing, or bad?" Wisdom interrupted my thoughts and metal stress. Shaking my head I decided to leave my mind, it was making everything worse. I exited to see the CD laying next to the mirror. I hadn't played it yet, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to, but curiosity got the best of me. I put the disk into the computer hidden in the side of my wall. Everybody's room had one; I had just never needed to use it, until now. I watched the scene unfold on the night BB had called me creepy.

'James turned to BB as he came through the doors, muttering about me and my creepy room. James twitched at the word, facing the changeling. He asked again when Beast Boy didn't understand what he was talking about. CY had jumped and told James yes, then replayed the same words that BB had said to me, and trying to explain how I was as creepy as ever.'

I still cringed at hearing that again.

'That's when James freaked, yelling at BB. What he said caused my heart to skip beats._"I DON'T CARE!"_he roared,_"I know what it's like to isolated and picked on because of how different I am! Hell! that'S why I was experimented on! You need to apologize, now! You may not see it, but I know she is hurting because of what you said! I mean hello, my girlfriend was just like her! Plus you are her friend for crying out loud! SO YOU NEED TO GO APOLOGIZE TO HER NOW!"_then softly afterwards, picking up the idiot,_"Or so help me I will drag your sorry little ass to her room myself!"_BB ran off and Cyborg went to see what James was doing, defending me briefly again. Robin then asked why.'

That was a very good question, why did he yell at BB for that.

'James just continued to stare at the door,_"I may have gone a little overboard, but it's because I can tell that what the stupid idiot said to her, must have hurt her feelings. I may not know all of you like you know each other, but I can tell that she hides her emotions and feelings; but just because she doesn't show them, it doesn't mean she doesn't have any or that they weren't hurt by his words. I would know. I have been called many different hurtful names as well."_Robin nodded in agreement, before offering to apologize for freaking out at BB.'

I shut the video off there, deep in thought. _He defended me. Me. He stopped BB and told him to apologize for hurting me. Why? And just now, he wouldn't let me go… No, he was hallucinating, that doesn't count. Does it? No. But, he does seem more comfortable talking to me rather than anyone else? Why is that?_ I had a lot more to think about now. And I had questions for James. I wanted answers, but there were more important things to worry about at the moment. But I knew I wasn't going to be able to let this go. Not be able to forget this. Ever. But now a new question was running through my mind. _Does he like me?_

**Danny POV**

I was warm. I was safe. Curled up on some comfortable cushion, yet I couldn't understand how I got here. _What happened?_I took a deep breath. _More importantly, what is that wondrous smell?_ I took in another breath of the amazing smell, it was floral. _Man, they really need to use this detergent more often._ I couldn't place the exact flower, it but I liked it, a smile spreading across my face when someone cleared their throat. I cracked open one of my eyes. Raven was standing there, and eyebrow rose. I had to open my other one to make sure I wasn't seeing thing. There, staring back at me was a very ticked off Raven. "Hi?"

"You enjoying that?" Her eyebrow still raised.

"Yeah? Why?" I croaked, _what is her problem_. I nuzzled my head against the blanket again.

"You wouldn't remember." She huffed. I sat so fast, I thought I was going to give myself whiplash.

"What!" I whispered, holding the blanket up to my shoulders, acting like it was a shield. She didn't meet my eyes, but that told me everything I needed to know, "No. No, no, no, no, no, no. Not again." I closed my eyes, trying to compose myself, but to no avail.

"Dude! He's awake!" Running over to the computer, BB hit the comm. button, "Yo Robin! Star! Cy! James is awake!" BB shouted through the mic, broadcasting the announcement throughout the entire tower. A few seconds passed before the others came running through the doors. Starfire was the first to reach me, flying up really close to my face and invading my personal space bubble.

"Uhh, hi." I said, leaning away from her.

"You are calm now, yes?" She asked, wonder in her wide green eyes. "You are not going to try and hurt us again?"

"I don't plan on it?" I knew I had done something, but what did I do and why was Raven pissed at me for it. And that really bothered me, for some reason.

"Good, now that you're awake, want to explain how my arm ended up encased in ice inside and out?" Cy was flipping out, waving his chilly arm in front of my face. I lifted my right hand and moved the ice covered robotic arm out of my face so I could look at him.

"And this is my fault how?" I questioned, though I already knew the answer.

"You tell me!"

"Huh?"

"How can you use your powers, you said they were taken away!" he clarified, Robin sighed,

"Dude, he said he doesn't have his powers and then my hand becomes an icicle, I see a major lie right there." Cy whined. Everyone but Raven narrowed their eyes at me.

"Yeah dude. Why lie like that? Hasn't anyone ever told you that lying gets you nowhere?" BB agreed with Cyborg.

"Right, because I'm going to take advice from a green boy that learns history from the back of a cereal box." I growled back.

"Beast Boy is right. Why make up a lie like that? What was it going to get you in the long run?" Robin countered.

"Maybe he didn't lie. Or he didn't think he was lying." Raven whispered. We all just stared at her. Now I was confused, but whatever she had come up with I was going to agree with.

"What do you mean he didn't lie? He said he has no powers and now he can all of a sudden use them again? My arm is visual proof that he lied!" Cy shouted.

"Maybe he never lost them. Maybe, he just forgot how to reach them? To tap into his power." Raven explained, still staring at me. Robin was rubbing his chin in a thinking fashion before a light bulb turned on as he understood what Raven had just said.

"Oh, I see." Robin started, "You're saying that James didn't know he could still use them, so when he said he didn't have them anymore he thought he was telling the truth."

"Precisely, like Starfire. When she can't feel the specific emotion that powers one of her abilities, she loses it in a sense. James's situation might be very similar to that, so we need to find a way to get him to reconnect with them."

"Wait, so your saying the James never lied. Man, that sucks even more than just losing them, but to still have them and not being able to reach them. Yo, how are we to do that? Get him to reconnect with his abilities?" Cy asked, most likely feeling sorry for yelling at me.

"So, now that we cleared that up, what happened?" I asked, honestly I just wanted to leave.

"Well, after you tried to kill me-" BB started to shout.

"Beast Boy! Not now." Robin interrupted.

"No, I want to know what happened." I ordered.

"Man are you sure-"

"Yes." I hissed, holding out the s. Cy shrugged, but complied opening up a recorded video of the incident. There was no sound, I didn't know if that was because they muted it, or if there was just no sound recorded. Most likely the latter, but I watched anyways, while I attacked the Titans, trying to kill them. I turned away after I watched myself tackle a popsicle-arm Cyborg. _Yeah... I'm stuck here again. Just great. They are going to keep me here again._

"Now, can I have my cloak back." I heard Raven order. Looking up, I shrunk back pulling my blanket up to cover half of my face at the sight of the glare coming off her. "Please."

"What cloak?" I whispered back, muffled slightly from the blanket as I breathed in again, the floral scent filling my nose. "You know, you guys should use this detergent more often. It smells amazing." Everyone gaped at me, while Raven went wide eyed and a slight blush filled her face.

"That _blanket_ you are currently using to cover you face, is my _cloak_. You took it when you clung on to me like a two year old and I would like it back." She explained her eye twitching as she gave a very brief explanation, and by judging from the look on her face, she was ticked.

"I'll show you want happened." Cy offered, though it didn't sound like much of an offer but began playing the end of the video. I watched wide eyed as I latched on to Raven, and didn't let go. Yet she treated me gently and with care, even when I clung tighter at every small movement, and eventually falling asleep on her. _That's not embarrassing at all. Then again, I have no control over the state of my mind, so maybe not… But she was gentle, careful not to aggravate me, like-like when dad did. Her face looks like she hated every moment, but she stayed with me. Why?_I turned back to her, and quiet handed her the cloak. _Oh. My. God,_I realized, _my blanket was her cloak…_ I looked back at her, almost positive I turned bright red at the realization.

"Thanks." And she walked away, probably to her room to put it in the hamper or something like that. I watched as she left, wondering what in the universe had caused me to cling onto her like that.

"Yo, dude, so you feeling better?" Beast Boy asked.

"He was never sick, BB. Just had a break down-"

"Episode." I corrected, interrupting Cyborg.

"What?"

"That's what my dad called them. Episodes. When I would have hallucinations of almost anything you could think of. They are triggered by key words, phrases, or even pictures. Once it's triggered, you can't stop it. Not unless you either knock me out, or calm me down. Though I prefer to be calmed down, like Raven did, otherwise I can be triggered again even easier then the last time." I explained, not meeting any of their gazes, or wanting to for that matter.

"So they are a normal occurrence?" Robin questioned. I nodded, and felt a hand land on my shoulder. "It's okay. You don't have control over those kinds of things. We can't be mad at you for it." He comforted.

"You know, we should all get some rest. It's getting late, and we all need rest after this long day." Cy announced.

"Yeah. James?"

"I know where my room was." Robin raised an eye behind his domino mask, "I'm not stupid. You're not going to let me leave. Not after that. So why would I try?"

"Uhh, yeah… okay. We'll see you in the morning?" Cy said, more of a question than just a statement. I nodded, and got up to head to my room, stumbling a little. My head was really fuzzy. I assumed that it was from my episode, I couldn't really tell where I was going, so I ended up in the wrong hallway running into Raven. I tripped as I bumped into her, falling to the floor and hitting my head on the wall. That wasn't going to help the buzzing in my head. Raven was kneeling next to me instantly.

"James. Hey are you okay?" she asked, worry hinted in her tone.

"Sorry. Just really tired." I mumbled, not really paying attention to anything.

"Hey, come here. Come on, let me help you up." She advised, putting one on my arms around her shoulder and helping me up. I don't really remember getting to my room, or in my bed for that matter, just that I was there. And it was warm. The unconsciousness of sleep quickly took over as I pulled the blankets around me.

I awoke with a jolt as a hand shook my shoulders, a bright red light and blaring siren were going off in the background. I looked to see the results of my actions, Robin covering his nose. _Oops. My bad._

"We got to go. Someone is attacking the tower." I froze, wide eyed and in fear. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me along with him, eventually meeting up with the rest of the team. Good to see Cy got the ice off, though how he did that, I didn't have a clue. _Maybe Raven?_

"Dude, why did you bring James?" BB whined.

"Because if _they_ are coming back for him, I want James in my sight at all times as a precautionary measure." Robin explained, a good reason in my opinion and if I was in his position, I would do the same thing. There wasn't really time to argue as a loud banging hit the front doors. The banging lasted for a few seconds, before the metal doors were pulled apart by some swamp monster looking thing. _Okay, so not the GIW. I guess that could be a good thing._ Only it turned out to be some guy with a blue and black wetsuit like outfit, black hair and black eyes. My hair was probably the same length as his, though not the same color because I had bleached it. I needed to make another hair appointment because you could see the black roots coming out, but being as tall as I was, no one would notice.

"Aqualad?" Robin was shocked. _Wait, they know him?_

"Your trash is in my ocean!" He growled. _Oh great. So he decided to trip some alarm just to tell us that we were littering. Awesome. I'll fix that once my mental health is better._

"Dude, did you have to break down the door, and set off the alarm? You could have just called. I mean you have a communicator." BB whined groggily.

"Yeah man, was that necessary. We thought you were after James. You scared the crap out of us." Cy explained.

"Who?" I raise my hand lazily at his question, "You have a new teammate?"

"No! I am not a Titan!" I was really angry at that question, "I gave up being a hero a long time ago! I'm only here because they won't let me leave."

"Do I want to know?" The guy, Aqualad, asked. Robin just shook his head.

"Nah man, you don't. It's not a pleasant story. Trust us." Cy said sadly. I turned and began to walk to the main room, figuring that's where everyone else was most likely headed. I ignored the talking and catching up between friends, as I assumed that's what they were, because I was lost in my own thoughts. Mostly about the GIW and why they haven't tried to attack yet. _What are they waiting for? Could they actually have decided to retreat and leave me alone? Haha, no, not possible. As far as they know, I'm one of a kind. Luckily they don't know about Danielle, I hope. I don't ever want her to go through that torture. I don't think I could live with myself if they got a hold of her somehow. I hope she is safe in the ghost zone somewhere._

"Yo, James. Hello. We got to go." BB broke me out of my thoughts.

"What do you mean, we?" I questioned.

"We are headed to the T-sub. You know to get rid of the giant weapon at the bottom of the ocean!" He exclaimed waving his arms above his head. I noticed a giant machine thing displayed on the main screen.

"Oh. That. Do I have to go?" I whined.

"Yes!" Everyone but Aqualad shouted. I flinched. _Well great._ I thought as I was dragged by BB to the launching bay and strapped into his usual seat. I knew it's his because of the way it smelled. The worst part, I didn't have a way of 'grabbing' my cane, so I'm basically screwed if I need it because I couldn't just summon it to my side once we got in the underwater fortress. I looked to my right and saw Raven pressed against the glass dome above her. She turned to look at me and I raised an eye brow, '_what?'_ I mouthed to her, she pointed to my left, so I turned to see Starfire waving at me and Raven, giggling to herself. I turned back around to face forward, a blank expression pasted on my face. The claw released the sub and we plunged into the water while BB, in shark form, and Aqualad were swimming alongside us. We trudged along the bottom of the ocean for was seemed like ever.

"Maybe we should pull over and ask for directions." Raven offered. I laughed. Everyone just turned to look at me.

"What, it's funny. It's not like we're going to find someone that can actually give us directions down here? Not unless water boy over there can talk to fish." They raised an eyebrow, "He can talk to fish."

" Awesome. What a talent." I deadpanned, crossing my arms as I sat back in my seat.

"There!" Starfire shouted, spotting the base.

"Whoa. That looks like a home for a lot of Cyborg's." I whispered. _Damn that thing is huge. What is this loser doing, building an underwater army?!_ My hearing picked up an underwater gate opening. _Oh crap._"Guys, I think we are going to have some company." I warned. And like two seconds later a cybernetic squid zoomed at us, attaching itself to the sub. _Oooooh, that's not good._

"Hey, that's my tech too. Doesn't this dude have any ideas of his own!" Cy whined, apparently jealous.

"Dude. So he stole your stuff, just build a bridge and get over it." I growled, annoyed that he had to keep pointing out everything that was '_his tech'_ so to speak. He snorted in response.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Robin ordered. _Whatever the hell that means? I'm just stuck in the sub, doesn't mean I know how to work BB's cockpit. Hopefully Robin knows that otherwise…_ I hit a random button. The squid was somehow electrocuted and freed us from its grip, while Robin or Cyborg hit the throttle. We zoomed and began to turn around to counter attack, only we couldn't find the robotic animal. The sonar beeping began to get louder and louder until we were attacked from above by the squid.

"Not good." I moaned as the tentacles squeezed the ship, the glass buckling under the pressure. Water began to seep into the cabins; Raven's almost full of water, while another cabin was shooting sparks from the controls being overloaded. Eventually the ship's resistance gave way, leaving us to sink to the floor of the ocean, most of us almost unconscious, to drown peacefully.

Then it was dark, and there was air, though it was slightly moist.

"Please tell me we're not where I think we are?" Raven groaned. It was wet, but a sticky and gooey wet. A light turned on, allowing us to see our surroundings, much to our dismay.

"I wish I could." Cy quickly responded, I scanned the group. Everyone was covered in saliva and water. Myself included. Robin looked at me as I shuddered, Cy and Star were huddled near the back of BB's mouth, both looked disgusted, while Raven just looked pissed.

"Although Beast Boy's quick thinking has saved our lives, I believe I am… Grossed out?" Starfire added. Suddenly, the floor became a wall as BB started to move in an upwards motion, and because of gravity, we all were headed towards his throat to be swallowed.

"Hang on!" Robin shouted, all of use taking the advice literally and grabbing for anything we could find. That didn't work so well, because BB was now spinning, diving and rising causing us to get swished around along with everything else in his mouth. This was beyond disgusting. By the time the spinning had stopped, I was nauseous from everything, and I have a fairly strong stomach. I think I almost threw up inside BB's mouth, twice, before he spit us out inside the base.

"Two words. Breath mints." Raven scolded, pointing at a very puppy eyed changeling. He responded by spitting out her shoe, and smiling.

"If I were you, I would bleach everything." I turned from Raven to face the wet changeling, "You are so lucky I didn't barf while still inside your mouth." I glared at the satisfied green boy. Raven just smirked at my comment.

"Okay, everybody knows their assignments." Robin stated.

"We have assignments?" I asked Raven, who was currently putting her boot back on. "You're not seriously going to put that back on? After he threw it up?" I eyed her, only receiving a glare.

"Beast Boy and I need to take out the force field that protects the sonic resonator." Aqualad answered firmly.

"Raven, James, Robin and I will attempt to capture the Brother Blood." Starfire answered, _Okay, well now I know what I'm doing._

"Providing a diversion so that Cyborg can get to the resonator core, and shut it down." Robin finished.

"Uhh, guys, we have company." I pointed to the sliding doors, revealing a squadron of yellow troops that looked like bees.

"Looks like we just had a change in plans!" Cy shouted, aiming his sonic cannon at the troops. Raven put a shield around us, blocking the incoming lasers.

"You have your assignment! Move!" The Boy Wonder bellowed, ordering Cy to get moving. He reluctantly did so, leaving us to face the yellow armored soldiers. "Titan's go."

Raven made a small hole for BB and Aqualad to jump into the water, and then teleported me, Robin, and Starfire to the other side of the enemy troops to flank them. _This is going to be fun!_ I grinned cracking my knuckles. I jumped one of the soldiers; one hand on his shoulder the other on his head, and took him to the ground. A quick jab to the pressure point in the middle of his back easily disabled him. I then took the gun from his hands and fired at will. Robin had expanded his bo staff and was swinging away while Raven and Starfire blasted them with their powers. My gun ran out of energy so I threw it at the head of a soldier that was occupied by Robin, throwing his balance off so Robin could finish him.

"James!" Robin called, "Take my spare!" tossing a small metal stick, that expanded into another bo staff exactly like the one in his hands. I grinned wickedly. _I guess I won't need my cane after all_. I attacked without hesitation, blocking, striking, sweeping, and even spearing at the worker bees, quickly taking out the remaining soldiers around me.

"I got a fix on Blood's location, but we need to move fast." Robin advised, turning to face us.

"Yes, I am hopeful that we will not encounter more H.I.V.E soldiers." Star said, as we walked to the doors, only to find, you guessed it, more soldiers.

"Way to jinx it, Starfire." I mumbled, sliding into another battle stance.

"Yeah, you had to say something." Raven deadpanned, while Star and Robin gasped. We looked at each other before charging. There may have been more soldiers, but we were more skilled.

"Why does the enemy, no matter who they are, always out number us but we always out match them?" I asked to no one in particular. We had easily made our way through the troops and were following Robin to the control room, while being blasted at from behind. One blast hit me and I when face first into the metal ground.

"James!" Raven cried, causing the others to halt and turn to me. Slowly, I grabbed the staff the say a few feet from me and hoisted myself up to face the incoming soldiers. When I was standing, I spun the staff expertly before putting one hand out for protection in front, while the other held the staff behind me, in a defensive stance and ready for them to come at me.

"Go get Blood! I'll deal with these wanna-bees!" I grinned, I had been waiting for an excuse to use my ghost powers, and the pun.

"No, you are staying with us." Robin ordered, standing next to me, copying my form much to my disappointment. Together, we charged, finishing off the ones that stood their ground before heading back towards the control room. Robin called Cyborg to see how close he was to the core, when more soldiers showed up. Raven only put up a barrier which they face planted into. I fell to the floor laughing at their smushed faces against the black force field.

"Come on." Raven growled, dragging me down the hall by my shirt. I was able to get myself up and running after a few feet.

"Parties over! Huh?" Robin shouted, only to an empty room. Robin's communicator beeped.

_"Robin, its Aqualad. We need your help. We've walked into a trap."_

"So have we!" Star noticed, pointing to a bomb strapped to the outside of the glass. It lit up a few times before blowing up, shattering the glass and allowing the water to fill the room. And it was rising quickly.

"Is everyone alright?" Robin asked.

"Super. Until we run out of air." Raven deadpanned, again.

"I am so done with water and drowning." I growled, swimming over to the hole.

"James? What are you doing?" Robin asked, shouting from across the room.

"I'm going to close up the hole." I answered, pressing my hands to the glass and concentrated closing my eyes. I was really tired, and not in a good way.

"James, you haven't been able to reactivate your powers, it won't work." Raven called. I knew I could easily close this up, but they still had to believe that I didn't have them, so I built up the icy energy within me. For some reason it was taking more energy than it normally should, I released the massive load of ice energy from my core, causing the air temp suddenly dropped as the energy exploded out of my core, freezing the entire side of the glass window. Then I was drained, which shouldn't have happened.

Black swirled into my vision, "Whoa," was all I heard as my body relaxed and I drifted into unconsciousness, sinking under the surface of the remaining water in the room.

**Raven POV**

"I am so done with water, and drowning." James snapped as he started to make his way to the hole in the glass wall.

"James. What are you doing?" Robin asked, confused.

"I'm going to close up the hole." He hissed back, placing his hands on the glass. I knew what he was going to try and do, and it wasn't going to work.

"James, you haven't been able to reactivate your powers, it won't work." I responded solemnly. I watched as he continued to focus, trying to find his powers that had been locked away from him. His eyes closed and he concentrated harder, trembling as he continued to search himself for his ice powers. The room temperature suddenly dropped twenty degree's as James opened his eyes, the icy blue glowing from the reflection in the glass before the ice formed around the entire pane.

"Whoa." Was all I had to say, while Star and Robin just stared, jaws dropped at his sheer power. We couldn't help but stare at the ice covered wall. He was powerful, really powerful. The swishing of water grabbed our attention. We all looked to James. Or where James used to be, all that was there now was water, and very few air bubbles. Panic set in for all of us.

"No!" Robin shouted, diving under the water.

"James!" Star and I cried, following Robin to try and save James. He reached the floor of the mostly submerged control room when we go to him, bubbles of air had stopped escaping his mouth, and we rushed to get him back to the surface, fearing the worst. The three of us were dreading the worst, James had saved us, but it was costing him his life. I just hoped that it wasn't the case.

"James. James! Wake up. Come on, James, wake up!" I pleaded, Star trying to do the same, worried about her friend as we tried to keep the three of us above the water. Robin went to stick a grenade to the metal door as a means of escape before swimming back to us as the door blew, the flow of the water pushing us into the hallway. We came to rest in the middle of the hallway breathing heavily, James still in my arms.

"We are saved." Star exclaimed and diving beneath the water with a brief amount of joy, before coming back up to help me with James. Robin raced to a control panel and began to hack it to try and rescue Aqualad and BB.

"Oh, James, please wake up. We need you to help us. Why won't you wake up?" Star pleaded, trying to shake him.

"Because he exhausted himself Star. I bet he hasn't used that much energy in three years. Three years of not being able to reach his powers." I answered, only then noticing that he wasn't breathing. My heart skipped a few beats, "No! Robin! He's not breathing!" Star gasped, trying to help me reposition him to help get the water out of his lungs. I didn't really want to do CPR but I didn't think Star knew how to do, and Robin was trying to save our other friends at the moment which left me. _Crap._

"Raven! You'll need to do CPR. Now! I'm still trying to shut down the trap BB and Aqualad are in. Star, hold James up so Raven can help him!" Robin ordered, looking in our direction for a brief second before returning to the screen in front of him. "I just hope we can still save the others." He whispered to himself, focused at his task at hand.

"Ok, Star, hold him… yeah, like that." I was helping her move James into a good position so I could begin. I placed my hands on his chest and began the compressions, pushing down to force the heart to start and help the air flow get through his lungs. "Come on. Breathe." I whispered to myself as I continued to push his chest. It was difficult because Star had to hold him above the two feet of water in the hall. He still wasn't breathing, so I was forced to use mouth to mouth, much to my dismay. A small shudder hit me as I moved my hands, one pinching his nose, the other opening his mouth just slightly for air, and I leaned in. I heard Star intake a sharp breath but I didn't have time to worry about what she was thinking. I took a deep breath, pressing my lips to his; I blew the air into his lungs, trying to flush out the water. I pulled back and listened. No response. Coming back up, I continued to press my hands against his chest, and repeated the process. _Breathe, damn it. Come on! You can't die on us! Not now!_I was about ready to give up when he began to cough, water spurting from his mouth as he jerked up, our heads colliding as he gasped for air. I fell back, rubbing the sore spot on my head.

"James! You are okay!" Star squealed, pulling him into a giant hug. Relief filled my mind as I watched him breathe in more air, spitting out the rest of the water in his lungs.

"Got it. Let's go." Robin turned to see Star and I lifting James up. He was exhausted, using that much energy at once.

"Oh man. What happened?" He mumbled, trying to hold himself up, but failing miserably.

"You almost drowned. Now lay down, we need to move quickly and you are in no shape to walk." I formed a disk of black energy and had Star help me lay James, who made no complaints, down while I stood, flying us through the hallways following Star and Robin, eventually meeting up with BB and Aqualad.

"Thanks for the rescue." Aqualad greeted as we got closer.

"Uhh, why is James laying down on that?" BB asked.

"Because he almost drowned trying to save us." I growled, as we continued to move through the hallways, trying to find Cyborg. "Cy is nearby, and he is with someone." I motioned for everyone to follow me, other than Robin, who was in front of me. We rounded a corner and came upon Cy and some girl dressed like a bumblebee.

"We need to get out of here."

"How?" The new girl asked.

"The T-ship's toast." Cy pointed out.

"Cyborg, can you grab James?" I asked. He looked over and nodded, reaching for the dazed teen and picked him up. I allowed my disk to disappear and I just levitated in the air.

"Hello!" The changeling shouted, pointing at his open mouth. Everyone took off, except me and BB.

"I'd really rather just stay here and drown." I responded, folding my arms. BB shrugged and took off. Really, I was just going to teleport myself out but Starfire came back and grabbed my shoulder, pulling me with her to the rest of the group. And just in time too, as the place blew, we all jumped into BB's mouth as he turned into a whale, taking us to the safety of our tower.

Once we were all dried off and back in to tower, we grouped up in the main room, looking at the main screen while Robin sat at the chair in front, "Our last tracking info shows our target heading east, we'll fan out an-" a beeping cut Robin off.

"You found Brother Blood." Cy jumped in, eager to take him on. Robin shook his head.

"Doctor Light found a bank vault." Robin corrected. I looked over to James, who was trying really hard to keep himself awake on the couch. He didn't look so good either, the bags under his eyes, he was paler than usual, his eyes were dull and slightly glazed over.

"Do I have to go with you?" He whined groggily. I didn't blame him. Doctor Light would be easy to take care of, and after his little incident today, he needed to rest.

"Look's like your city needs you. I'll go after Blood, if I run into any trouble, I know who to call." He stated, holding up his communicator.

"Actually, if he runs into trouble, I'll be there to bail him out." The girl, Bumblebee, answered. Robin nodded and headed for the door. I shook James awake and motioned for him to follow me. Slowly he stood up, grumbling the whole time, and made his way over to the doors Robin had just gone through.

"James, you should head to your room in the tower. We won't need you for this mission." Robin stated, noticing how bad he looked. A small smile spread across his lips as he heard the news.

"Raven, teleport him to his room and meet us at the bank." I nodded, encasing us with black energy and transporting us to his room.

"Ahh. Bed." He whispered joyfully, falling onto it face first, and passing out as his head hit the pillow. His exhaustion was understandable, from using that much energy at once for the first time in three years and then almost dying, he deserved to rest. I flew out of his room and to the bank, meeting up with everyone else to stop Dr. Light.

* * *

**Oh I forgot to mention at the top, Over the weekend, I went on a writing frenzy during the Superbowl (GO Ravens!), and literally wrote the next two chapters. So, again, the next chapter should be up within a reasonable time, but like I said last week, school _has_ started and because I'm just _an idiot_, I decided to take trigonometry, chemistry, and biology all in the same semester. So if I don't update every week, you can expect it to be because of the boat load of hw I'm doing in all my spare time. But yeah, other than that, see you next week, hopefully.**


	11. Unexpected Changes

**Hey guys! Somehow this plan of mine with doing my hw isn't working, crud... Oh well. And since I was late uploading last time, I figured I'd be early this time. Oh and this is the "The Beast Within" episode of Teen Titans, which means I own nothing :( but I do know that there is some good scenes to come!**

**I will answer some reviews now!**

**sparxthehdgehog: I do love when people come to their own conclusions as well. Hope I explained the power drain for you, it should make sense now.**

**book phan44: No, he never had an issue using his powers. He lied to the titan's saying he lost his powers when he was experimented on, when in reality he was always able to use them. They just now think that he can reuse them again. They don't know the truth yet.**

******This is an answer to the question you posted for chapter 9...**

**Slytherin's Pimp: No, I don't plan on having the Justice league get involved. Honestly to me it seems like they are always getting involved in every other DPxTT crossover. That and I haven't watched a justice league episode ever, and that would take to long to get all the character just right. Plus, I am going off the Teen Titan's story line, and the JL isn't ever mentioned in the series as far as my knowledge goes. I do know that Batman has very small hints thrown at him during the series but that's it.**

**Now, enough of me talking, and go ahead and read the new chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**Raven POV**

It was around noon the next day and no one had seen James yet, though he did use a lot of energy when he used his powers to save our lives. None of us wanted to go check on him, in case he was still sleeping. A loud grumbling sound split the silent air, like groaning metal about to give way. We all looked at each other in shock and confusion, not knowing what had made the sound, or where it came from. The metal doors to the common room opened up to reveal James as he leaned against the wall. He pushed himself off the wall and slowly stumbled forward, his eyes completely focused on the floor as they switched between squinting, and a lot of blinking, then opening really wide before repeating the process infinitely, while both arms were out in front and to the sides like he was balancing on a tightrope. He honestly looked like he had a little too much to drink.

"Hey James… Glad to see you awake." He didn't respond to Robin, "James?" still watching the stairs in front of him, "Are you okay?" Robins question was answered a second later when that loud groaning sound returned. James clutched his stomach with one hand while the other stayed out as if to balance himself, though not being of much help as he started to fall forward, Robin raced and caught James before he fell down the five stairs in the room.

"Dude. That sounded like an angry lion. When was the last time you ate?" BB exclaimed, his jaw on the floor. James didn't respond, still focused at the task at hand, which seemed to be going to the kitchen. He had finally made his way down the five steps, with Robins help, and slowly walked to the kitchen. Finally making it to the counter, he pulled himself up onto one of the stools and stared intently at the fridge.

_When was the last time he ate? Let see, yesterday we were with Aqualad trying to stop Brother Blood, that took up the whole day, the day before that was when he had his episode as he calls them, didn't eat anything then because he was on me the entire day, and the day before that was, Mad Mod, which was almost… Three days ago. Oh my god, he didn't just faint yesterday from expending all that energy, but it was combined with the fact that he hasn't eaten or drank anything in three days._

Robin must have realized the same thing as me because he was in the kitchen and handing James one of his protein shakes and started to make a sandwich for him.

"Why didn't you tell us you were hungry?" He asked James, who was downing the shake like there was no tomorrow. He looked up at Robin as he set the cup down with a loud click, but didn't say anything. It was amazing that he had even lasted this long, being so deprived of food and water and then helping us take down Brother Blood yesterday, it was incredible. He just handed the glass shakily to Robin, wanting more but not able to say anything while staring at the sink. I got up and filled a different glass with water, hoping that was what he wanted. He looked to me, a small smile on his face as he reached for the glass. Gripping it tightly before downing that as well, before looking to me again for more.

Everyone had moved to the kitchen to watch James, but I don't think he noticed. I filled up his glass again, by then Robin had finished making the sandwich, full of an assorted selection of meats and vegetables for him piled high on the wheat bread. By the look in his eyes, I positive that James would have been drooling if he wasn't so dehydrated. He took a large bite, chewing ferociously, swallowed, and repeated the process, finishing the sandwich in a minute and a half, then chugging another glass of water. He was looking a lot better just by the small amount of substantial energy that we gave to him. He leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smile spread across his lips. He was looking much better just after the meal we gave him. His stomach growled again, but fifty times softer. BB rushed to grab him an apple and set it in his hands. He ate the apple quickly, practically eating the core.

"Why didn't you tell us you were hungry?" Robin repeated, worried about him like the rest of us.

"Because I wasn't hungry-" he shrugged, like it was no big deal.

"Dude! How could you not be hungry? You hadn't eaten in like three days!" BB exclaimed, interrupting him before he could finish.

"I wasn't, until now."

"The only thing that could have caused you not to feel your hunger would have either been reusing your powers, or your episode. Possibly from both, but why this time? Why didn't this happen when you freaked on Raven twice the first day you were here?" Robin asked.

"How would I know, I don't remember anything when they happen." He looked to Robin, "Unless you know something I don't, then I would like to know."

"How often have you used you powers in an episode?" Robin asked cautiously, James just gave him the _are-you-serious_ look.

"Your joking, right. Please tell me you're joking. Did I _not_ just tell you I don't remember what happens in an episode?" He growled, still giving Robin the same look.

"Surely you have some recollection, maybe a parent or someone would tell you afterwards…" Robin stated, trying to jog James's memory. James furrowed his eyebrows as he began to think, trying to recall something or anything.

"My dad," James whispered, staring at the counter, "He would always make me eat, even if it was just a granola bar, after an episode, but it was only after a few of them. Maybe he knew something that I didn't. I remember him telling me that out of the hundreds of episodes, I only used my powers a handful of times." He suddenly looked up at us, "You don't think that maybe that was the reason I…" Robin started to nod as he put the pieces together.

"It think it could be a possibility, and normally I would want to test it out, but in your case, I don't want to test this theory." We all sighed with relief at the last part. That was the last thing we needed, to have James try to kill us again in another episode.

"You should still rest though, after what happened yesterday, you did quite a number on yourself." Cy explained, "But congrats on getting your ice powers back." Everyone smiled at that. When we told BB and Cy how James saved us, nearly at the cost of his life, it impressed everyone. I mean they knew he was strong, but they had no idea how strong. BB had forgiven James for almost killing him, understanding that it wasn't his fault for his state of mind, and was able to get James to play some video games for the rest of the day. We all watched the two play, mostly concerned about James, his physical energy that he had used during those two days of not eating or drinking during that same time, he needed to be supervised. We would all jump whenever he yawned or drooped a little. Robin forced him to drink another protein shake while Cy had gotten him a giant water bottle for him to drink. The alarm had gone off around four and we needed to leave, telling James to stay in this room, seeing as he was not ready to help us save the city.

* * *

Of course that was two weeks ago, he was looking much healthier now, his eyes were sparking their bright electric blue again, he was back to his normal skin color, even his pesky attitude was back. Though I could live without it, but it was nice to see him back to normal, in a sense, even though we all knew he would never be fully normal after the torture he experienced. But to be able to use his ice powers in small amounts was a definite improvement, though we only allowed it when we were in the same room, just as a precautionary measure. He actually asked me if he could meditate with me for a couple of days, something I wasn't expecting, but I agreed. And it eventually became a routine for the both of us every day, and after he meditated with me he would head out to the gym to spar with Robin or lift weights with Cyborg. Then after that, he would play video games with Cy and BB, or come hang out with me, again. Actually, that happened a lot. I didn't mind though, it was just a little strange that he would want to hang out with me, miss doom and gloom, but I guess if his girlfriend was a Goth, it was more of a normalcy thing for him. He was allowed to go home a few days ago, but he said he wanted to stay, though his excuse was that _'they'_ hadn't come back for him yet and that it was really bothering him. Robin instantly bought it, along with everyone else, but they can't sense emotions like I can, and I sensed that he while he was afraid of _'them'_ he was also feeling something besides just fear, I just couldn't tell what.

At the current moment, we were all in the training room watching James and Robin spar lightly against each other. James was wearing some form of workout outfit; black, form fitting sleeveless shirt, a pair of matching black basketball shorts, and black sneakers while Robin was in his normal costume. The alarm went off halfway through their match, causing us to rush to the main room to see what the trouble was. Some dude named Adonis was attacking a lab, so we headed out, while James just stood there, unsure of what to do.

"James? Do you want to come, or stay here?" Robin called, stopping in the doorway and looking back to James.

"Either. It doesn't matter to me." He replied nonchalantly. Robin walked back to James and grabbed his wrist, a big grin on his face as he pulled him towards the doors, and eventually to the T-car.

"Hey man. Joining us today?" Cy beamed, excited about the extra help.

"Apparently. Though, I do have my own vehicle. Do you think we could stop by my house on the way back so I can bring it here?" He asked.

"Sure. Why not." Cy agreed excited to see what James drove. James just smiled, giving me a playfully evil grin when no one was looking. I scowled back, _he better not tell them anything about that night or so help me his bike will be scrap metal._ We pulled up to the building that Adonis was attacking. What the hell he thought he was going to get from there I had no idea, but then again, when were villains ever smart?

BB was the first to charge, only to get thrown back at us, hitting a few very hard objects on the way back, landing in front of us with a thud, "I think my appendix and my spleen just switched places." he moaned as he stood up next to us.

"Have you been reading text books? Gold star for Beast Boy!" James observed, rewarding him for naming two organs within his own body. At least James was smart and able to dumb things down for BB easily when needed.

"You wimps think you can take down Adonis?" The red muscled man taunted, cracking his knuckles as he walked closer, "Bring it on."

"Dude, it is totally brunged. Branged." He tried to correct himself, jumping up and ready for more fighting, causing James to face palm. Twice.

"Oooh. Bad grammar. That oughtta scare him." I deadpanned, pissing the green boy off.

"Never mind Beast Boy, you just lost your gold star. Apparently I need to tutor you in grammar as well." James joked, I laughed internally. I had to admit, James was funny at times, well at least funnier than Beast Boy.

"Titans. Go!" Robin called. We attacked in our basic pattern only to get creamed. James stayed in the background, not really doing much, though he didn't really know our battle patterns so I guess it was okay that he didn't do anything for the moment. I covered Adonis in my magic, attempting to hold him at bay, only he broke through it and pin me to the ground, hard against the cold tile floors. I was definitely going to have some bruises there tomorrow.

"Let me go." I said, struggling to get free. I felt a new wave of emotions enter the room. Mostly from Adonis, but some from James, which was strange, seeing as I can usually never get anything off him. There was a purring sound from above me so I opened my eyes to see the grinning face that was Adonis.

"You're feisty." He gave me a big smile, his eyes twinkling a little, and his emotions showing that of being turned on, "I like feisty." He said as he purred again. _Oh. Hell. No! He did not just hit on me._ I gave him a death glare before phasing into the ground, James was now giving off strong emotions of anger? I reappeared on the other side of the room in time for the main event.

"Hey, tin can! Catch!" James yelled angrily as Adonis looked up, receiving a nice punch to the face, sending him back a few steps. His anger confused me though; it wasn't the 'You-are-in-trouble-and-I-need-to-help-out-a-friend' type of anger, but more of 'I-can't-believe-you-did-that-to-her' type of anger. _Wait. What? That makes no sense?_A bluish glow emitted from his hands, and a staff of ice formed in them causing Adonis to pause, "You should know better than to hit on a super hero. Apparently I need to tutor you as well." He taunted as he slid into a defensive stance, keeping the red machine villain's attention occupied as Cyborg came from the side. Cy started wailing on him while James relaxed, though his emotions never disappeared, only calmed down.

"Well, my job is done." Then turned to me, "Are you okay?" He asked with a concerned look in his eyes while his staff disintegrated.

"Yeah... Thanks?" I responded, trying to understand what he was just feeling. _Was he just… Jealous?_He gave a small smile, _No, he wasn't. I'm just imagining things. He was just helping the team out. Right? He couldn't have been jealous?_ His smile disappeared as we heard Cy get thrown thru a wall. Both of us turned to see a large hole in the wall.

"Ow," James grimaced, "that's gonna leave a mark."

"Nobody out-muscles Adonis." He mocked, flexing his metal pecs. James and I just rolled our eyes.

"Oh yeah? Well my muscles may be small and ropey but they're not. I mean…" BB challenged, letting out a small squeal as Adonis charged him.

"You would _think_ that he would have _learned_by now to _keep_ his mouth _shut_. It seems that I now need to add _common sense_ to the list of subjects that he lacks knowledge on." James groaned as we watched BB take on Adonis, and fail. Multiple times.

"What's the matter wuss, don't you know how to fight like a man?" Adonis teased.

James rolled his eyes, letting out a sigh of annoyance before whispering to me "You know, it's going to be real funny when Adonis turns out to be the wuss."

"I'm not a man. I'm an animal!" The changeling replied angrily, charging Adonis as a Sasquatch, sending a few blows his way. Adonis dodged them all, but BB hit his as a green rhino, knocking him into a pole. Turning into some dinosaur, he launched Adonis across the room before charging as a lion, scratching his chest. Then turning into a bear, he headed for the finish.

"Hmp." James seemed impressed, along with everyone else as we regrouped, watching BB beat the crap out of the red machined villain. Star gasped as BB got closer to the two giant tanks that contained the green liquid.

"Beast Boy careful! The chemicals!" Robin tried to warn, but he was too late. The two had already smashed into the tanks, the green chemicals spraying all over the two teens as BB tore apart his suit. Out popped a scrawny dude, leaner than Beast Boy.

"Wow. I was right." James stated, trying to contain the laughter that was bursting from his mouth.

"Who's the tough guy now?" BB asked angrily, turning to walk towards us.

"Um, Good job?" Robin congratulated, scratching the back of his head in uncertainty.

"Nice intensity." Cy added, putting up a thumbs up sign which BB ignored.

"Yeah? Have any good freak-out's lately?" I asked, causing him to turn and face me.

"Yeah. I just got sick of being pushed around." He responded, getting up in my face. I leaned away, the chemical smell radiating off of him was horrible. James growled at BB, pushing him away from me as he stepped in-between us. BB sent him a glare before walking out the door, a dog backed away whimpering in his cage as BB went by. Cyborg turned to James, a confused look on his face.

"What the hell was his problem?" James growled, turning to face us. We just shrugged, and followed BB out the door and to the car, I however, was thinking about what had just occurred, _Okay, that's twice now. What is going on? I mean I swear he was jealous earlier, but this was unexpected._BB was nowhere in sight, thank god because I did not want to sit next to his toxic smelling form on the car ride home.

"Man, how did you know he was going to be a scrawny little dude?" Cy asked finally.

"Easy. His metal suit was _obviously_ over compensating for _something_." James looked back to the unconscious form of Adonis, "Actually, it was probably more like _two_ something's." He said, looking back to us with laughter following shortly afterwards. Cyborg fell to the floor holding his stomach from laughing so hard, Robin had his hand over his mouth as he snickered. I just stared at them and their immaturity; _I cannot believe he just said that._ Starfire was giggling as well, though I wasn't surprised.

"Oh come on Raven, it was funny and you know it." James laughed as he tried to compose himself.

"You boys are so immature. I'll be waiting by the car." I growled as I started to walk away like Beast Boy did.

"Oh come on! It can't be the first time someone hit on you?" He teased, that was a low blow, and he must have known it because he instantly stopped laughing when I turned around with a hurt look on my face. His face turned to that of regret, pain, and shock, "Raven, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I was just- Sorry. I'm sorry." His emotions gave off the truth about what he said, but quickly disappeared, but he seemed to be kicking himself for saying that, which baffled me even more. No one else seemed to notice our little exchange, as they were all still laughing at Adonis.

"Yo James." Cy had finally managed to get out after laughing hard from James's joke, "You said you wanted to stop by your house right?" James nodded slowly as he broke out of his thoughts, "Cool, let's go."

"You guys go ahead, I'll take Adonis," Robin said, a small burst of laughter following the name Adonis, "to jail." We nodded as we headed to the T-car.

"Where do you live?" Cy asked as we got in, knowing that James wanted to get his bike, though they didn't know he rode a motorcycle. James leaned over and punched the address into the GPS then sat back in his seat quietly. Cyborg started talking about how excited he was to see James's vehicle, and James pretended to be excited about it too. Only I would catch James looking back at me, a worried look on his face each time. And every time I caught him, he would quickly face front again, which again baffled me. When we arrived at his house ten minutes later, James got out of the car and headed to his front door.

We just sat and waited for him to come out the garage with his vehicle. A minute later, the garage opened to reveal James sitting on his bike, his helmet flipped open so you could see his entire face, and a backpack strapped to him as he pulled out and stopped next to us, giving a grin to Cy whose jaw had dropped. He turned and hit a button, closing the garage and the front of his helmet then back to us, motioning to lead the way. Cy just nodded and backed out of the driveway and headed back to the tower, James trailing closely behind, showing off every once in a while, though Cy and Starfire enjoyed the show while I just rolled my eyes, _Show Off._I almost laughed when he hit a bump in the road, causing him to swerve, while Cy and Star gasped out of fear. He quickly recovered and gave a thumbs up sign while Star and Cy released the breath that they each had been holding in, while I just shook my head and sighed, rolling my eyes again.

When we finally got to the garage, Robin was waiting patiently to see the new vehicle that was going to be resting in the tower. His eyes bulged and jaw dropped when James pulled up on his bike. He cut the motor and Robin walked up to examine the bike.

"You like?" He smirked as he took off his helmet. Robin nodded, still examining it. "I had it tuned up and parts added just in case _they_ decided to chase me."

"So, you're good with tools and parts?" Cy asked eagerly.

"Somewhat, yeah." James nodded. Cy let out a low whistle, before both him and Robin started talking parts and specs and what-not. I just left, mostly because I needed to mediate, and think about today's strange events. Starfire didn't really understand what they were saying, but she stayed in the room with them anyways, probably to be around her _new friend_.

**Danny POV**

So last night was weird, but the next morning only got weirder, and that trend continued as the day went on.

"Yo, James? You hungry?" Robin asked, I was sitting on the couch watching the same station as Robin, the news, while playing a game on my phone, yeah, I brought my phone and laptop with me, even though I was allowed to go home, something was telling me to stay. I think I was finally understanding what Clockwork was saying, that they can help me, but that meant they had to know about Phantom, and that wasn't going to be easy. It was really going to piss them off or hurt them all, especially Raven, who, like me at the moment, doesn't hand out her trust easily and is pissed at me. In fact, I was dreading the idea of having to tell them that secret._Ah hell, why does my life have to be so freaking complicatedly messed up? I've already dug myself the deepest hole possible and now I have no way of getting out of it. Not unscathed anyways. Damn that smells good though, what is he making?_

"Yeah. What are you making? It smells awesome." I asked back.

"Ham, and eggs. You want some?"

"Yes." I grinned at him.

"Cool. It should be done soon." and wouldn't you know it, the timer buzzed after he said that. Robin had pulled the eggs just before the ham finished, and pulled it out of the oven. "Ready." He called; I could hear his knife literally vibrating from being whipped out so fast.

"Sweet." I said, hopping over the back of the couch ninja style only to see BB sit at the counter drooling. He quickly sucked up the eggs then swallowed the ham in one bite, burping out the bone before using a toothpick to clean his teeth.

"Beast Boy. That was… Ham… and eggs…" Robin stuttered, confused as hell trying to add up what just happened.

"Sure was." BB retorted. I raised an eyebrow.

"But you're a vegetarian." I answered for Robin.

"Not anymore dudes. Ever since I stood up to that loser Adonis, I feel like a new man. A _real_ man. And real men _don't_ eat tofu." He spit out his toothpick and downed the orange juice glass in front of Robin, "It's almost noon. You two should get some breakfast." And with that he got up and left the room.

"That… Was our breakfast." Robin and I said in unison, watching him leave. My stomach growled, reminding me how hungry I was. I glared at the door, and in a sense, Beast Boy, for eating the breakfast that Robin was going to share with me.

"Something tells me that isn't normal for him." I turned to Robin, still pissed.

"No. It's not. And you should eat something before we go spar. I don't want you to pass out due to lack of energy." I nodded, they were all over protective about that subject, but it was to be expected. We sat down and ate a small meal before heading to the training room. The day got weirder and weirder. I had walked into the room to watch some TV only Starfire stormed out angrily.

"Starfire? You okay?" I asked cautiously, I could tell she was already mad.

"Beast Boy is merely flipping through the channels of the Television and will not let me watch my most favorite show, World of Fungus." She huffed, I raised an eyebrow. "And then he ordered me to get him another of the beer of roots."

"Here come with me, I'll get BB to leave so you can watch your show." I promised her. She squealed as she gave me a big hug before we walked back into the main room and up to the couch.

"Oh, you back. Did you grab me another root beer while you were up?" He asked, acting like an ass. Starfire huffed and I intervened.

"Dude. Let her watch her show. You aren't watching anything important an-"

"So. I was here first. She can wait." He grouched.

"That's bull and you know it. You aren't the boss of the tower and you need to share. It's Starfire's turn to watch what she wants." I reasoned.

"I said NO!' He shouted. I grabbed the remote from his hands and gave it to Starfire. "Hey! That was mine!" He yelled and jumped onto me. I kicked him off easily and stood my ground in front of the Tameranian.

"It's Starfire's turn." I said firmly, adding a glare to my statement. He growled and left the room, throwing the soda can that was in his hand at me first. I turned back to Starfire after the doors closed, "There. All yours." I gave her a grin.

"Oh! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed happily, hugging me again before sitting me down on the couch next to her so we could watch her show. I told her I would watch it with her again tomorrow. She squealed again before happily grinning as she flew to her room to write it down on a schedule of hers. I headed to the kitchen to grab an apple before heading up to the roof to meditate with Raven. Apparently she wasn't pissed at me like I thought, which was a huge relief and made me happy. Speaking of Raven, she has been giving me some really puzzling looks, like she can't figure me out or something. No. I'm not going to call it creepy, cause I _know_ that's what you were thinking, I assumed that she was just trying to read my emotions or something like that.

A few hours later, I came down to race Cyborg in one of his video games, only to walk into yet another angry BB moment, "Dude! No fair! You can't do that!" He shouted angrily at Cyborg. _Not again._

"I can. I did. And baby, that's why I'm gonna win." He teased.

The changeling responded by throwing the controller on the ground, turned and clawed the cybernetic teens chest, "That's what you think!"

"Yo man, chill. It's just a stupid game." Cy explained in a whinny tone as BB stormed past me and off to who knows were.

"Did he snap again?" I asked, walking over to Cyborg.

"Yeah, apparently. Dude, you know what his problem is?" Cy asked as I sat down next to him, starting a new game but neither of us were paying attention to it.

"I have a theory, but we might want Robin to hear it out." I responded, Cy nodded as he used a power-up and passed me.

"We should get Robin. And Raven." I answered, passing the finish line a second before him.

"I agree. I'll go find Raven, you get Star and Robin." Cy nodded, both of us setting down the controllers and set out to find our people to confront Beast Boy. I walked over to Raven's room, only to find that she wasn't there. _Where did she go?_ I roamed the halls, increasing my hearing for her or BB. I caught the start of their argument a few minutes later, and hurried. _He has already hurt her once, and now he is going for round two. That is so not going to happen._

"Sorry." She said.

"You better be. Why don't you look where you're going?" I heard BB snap back.

"On second thought, I'm not sorry and you're a jerk." Raven replied. _No, that will just piss him off even more._ I rounded another corner and listened in on BB's spiel.

"You know, Raven. I've been a really nice guy for a really long time, I've put up with your insults, and your attitude," He was pointing at Raven by the time I entered the same hallway as them, "And I've had it." He got really close to her face. I knew what was going to happen next so I hurried my pace. "Consider this a warning, as of last night, Mr. Nice-guy has left the building." He threatened.

"Is this the part where I'm supposed to be intimidated?" She asked. That did it.

"No. This is!" He growled turning into his Sasquatch form ready to attack. Raven formed her black energy in her hands as she backed up ready to defend herself. I pushed her behind me, an ice club forming in my hands as she gasped. I glared at the green monkey-man angrily. He was maybe a foot and a half taller than me when he was a Sasquatch, I stared him down, ready to teach his spoiled, moody, three-year-old ass a lesson.

"Beast Boy!" Robin yelled from behind, I watched the changeling paused looking above us as at Robin, "Leave her alone!" he ordered.

"What's gotten into you man?" Cy asked.

"You are behaving like a royal zafnark." Star compared, whatever a zarfnark was. BB changed back and turned to walked past us, Raven released her magic at that point. I stayed in front of Raven, my club still at the ready, as he moved over to Robin. I relaxed slightly when he reached them, though I could feel Raven's eyes boring into my back.

"Look. This is who I am now. You guys don't like it. Tough." He growled, I just snorted.

"Fine. If this is how you want to act, do it somewhere else. None of us are interested." Robin countered, glaring at him. BB feigned, causing Robin, and me, to tense up for a fight.

"Heh." He said straightening up, "That's what I thought." And walked away steamed. I relaxed fully, standing at my full height when he rounded the corner and disappeared from view.

I turned to Raven, "You okay?" I asked, bending down to pick up her book.

She nodded, "Thanks?" She was looking at me carefully as I handed her the book, like she was trying to study me again.

"Good." I smiled, we turned and regrouped with the others as they continued to stare at the last spot Beast Boy was seen at.

"James. You said you had an idea as to why Beast Boy is acting this way." Robin finally said.

"Yeah, I do. I think the chemicals that spilt on him are causing this change in behavior." I explained as Robin nodded.

"I was thinking the same. It's the only logical explanation. Okay team," I cleared my throat, eyeing him, "Group?" I nodded, "We'll need to talk to him when he has calmed down, and try to get him into the medical bay." Robin explained.

"Sounds like a plan." Cy agreed. Raven and I nodded in agreement. Everyone went back to their original tasks, scattering and leaving the hallway empty, except for Raven. I turned to leave, heading to my room when Raven called after me.

"You defended me, again. Why?" She asked, I paused and turned back to face her.

"Huh?" I was now confused.

"You defended me." She explained slowly, "Like when Beast Boy called me creepy, and when we were facing Adonis. Why?"

"Oh. That. Yeah, you're welcome." I responded softly.

"Thanks. But you still didn't answer why? Why did you protect me like that?" she inquired, obviously wanting an answer. _Well crap, I don't know why. Do I?_

"Because, he going to hurt you?" _Please work,_ "Isn't that reason enough?" I asked back. Her eyes narrowed at my response.

"No." _Crap._

"Well it is for me. You're a friend," She raised an eyebrow at that, "and I always stand up for my friends." I explained, hoping she would drop it.

"You consider me to be a friend?" She asked, no discernible tone in her voice what so ever. _Nope, we're not dropping the topic. Why would we want to do that?_

"Yeah. As much as I don't want to be because of you all getting hurt from me or my enemies, it looks like it is going to be that way, so I might as well embrace it." I rationalized, that was what was happening, I was beginning to see them as friends and they must have been feeling the same way because it seemed like they really cared about me. Even after I attacked them. After all the stress I put them through, they were going to stand by me no matter what. Just like Sam and Tucker did, and eventually Jazz even though she was my sister. I smiled sadly at the memories we shared together, tears starting to form.

"Oh. Are you okay?" She asked, breaking my trip down memory lane.

"Yeah," my voice cracked, "Just remembered something. Don't worry." I gave a small and sad smile and headed in the opposite direction, towards the common room, still feeling her eyes burning a hole in my back as I left. I ate a quick dinner before heading back to my room. It was getting late and I should get some rest. Only a scream that turned into a moan sounded throughout the tower. _Raven!_ I took off towards her room. Only she wasn't there. _Oh no. Beast Boy! Raven!_ I ran towards BB's room, reaching it a few seconds before the rest of the group.

"No." I whispered to myself. My heart started to race. _If he hurt her again, I swear I'm gonna kill him!_ Everyone gasped, causing me to turn around to face them. My worried look must have concluded the fear they were already feeling as they looked around the room I was standing in the center of. There had definitely been a battle here, that much was clear, but where did it lead to?

"What happened?" Robin asked as he walked to the window.

"I have no idea, but I have a bad feeling that it's Beast Boy's fault." I answered. A few minutes later we were all searching the city, Robin and I on our motorcycles, Cyborg in the T-car, Star flying, giving us an aerial view.

"Alright team," Robin started, I hated that word, I made me apart of the team even though I wasn't but I didn't feel like arguing at the moment so I let it go, "We've got two titans missing and no explanation. We need answers, so split up." He ordered. I took the ghetto part of town, Robin took down town, Cy took the residential area and Star flew over everything. Star found something first.

"I have spotted something. Something with claws." She transmitted over the communicator.

"Steering to your coordinates." Cy answered, I followed his example and headed to were Star was.

"Track it, Starfire. We'll be there as soon as we can." Robin responded. I headed to where Starfire was going, and ended up meeting the others at a sewage drain when Cy said he had a lock on Raven.

"She was here just a second ago." He exclaimed.

"No. She was down there." I corrected.

"The signals coming from underground." Robin said, opening the metal lid and jumping into the sewer. The other two followed, and I followed them. I really didn't want to get my clothes full of sewer water, but flying was going to be out of the question. Luckily it was just a puddle but it was about to get worse.

"Raven stopped, and she's close by. Come on." Cy encouraged, heading towards he signal. We continued walking until we reached her position. Only it was her clasp that helped hold her cloak over her shoulder.

"Oh. I wish to know that our friends are okay now, please?" Star asked worried.

"Join the club. I can't even find BB's signal." Cy answered, looking back at his arm. _That's not good, and if Raven doesn't have her clasp, then who knows where they are. She could be with BB somewhere and seriously hurt._

"It's not Beast Boy I'm worried about." Robin started, only a loud wail rang throughout the sewers.

"I can't locate the source." Cy exclaimed.

"Then split up." Robin ordered. All of us took off in different directions. I backtracked to a few feet to the entryway we came from and turned right, heading down that pipeline. I formed some ecto-energy in my hand as a makeshift light to help see in the dark and lifted myself off the ground, levitating as I continued to make my way down the pipe, looking for any signs of Raven or Beast Boy. Maybe ten minutes later, my communicator buzzed.

"I think y'all better get over here." Cy called over the com link.

"On my way." Robin answered instantly. I attempted to reach them by normal human means, but I ended up getting frustrated as I continued to get lost, so just phased through the walls until I reached the team, careful to not let them see me come that way.

"Look." Cy whispered, holding up Beast Boy's belt. Heavy breathing caught our attention, as a large and dark figure raced across the entry way in front of us. We followed it until we reached a dead end, and a monster like thing. _Is that Beast Boy?_ It turned around and my heart skipped a beat, there in its teeth was an unconscious Raven.

"Raven!" Cy and I called out together. Starfire gasped. The thing I figured was Beast Boy laid Raven down in front of himself and got defensive.

"Attack!" Robin ordered, and charged. They attacked Beast Boy while I pulled back, trying to get to Raven instead. Star seemed to have the same idea and we reached her at the same time. I bent down and put two fingers to her neck, checking for a pulse, letting out a breath of relief when I found one. Star did the same, releasing the breath she had been holding for her friend. Anger was now coursing through my body, and I barely held it at bay. Barely. It literally took everything I had to not go ghost and beat the living shit out of this thing, even if it was BB. Speaking of, he knocked Cy and Robin out of the way and charged at us. Star instantly flew up into the air and started to rain her starbolts down on him. She began to help the others fight off Beast Boy, so I carefully rolled Raven on to her back, no noticeable injuries, and picked her up bridal style as they all knocked him down at once, causing him to revert back into his human form.

Starfire gasped, "No." Robin whispered. I knew then, that my hunch was right, and that it was Beast Boy that they were attacking, and who had attacked Raven._Wait, he was defensive over her? But if he attacked her, why would he then try to protect her?_

"Where am I?" BB asked groggily, then stared into the shocked faces of his team, "Why is everybody looking at me like that?" I got closer to the group, still carrying Raven, and glared. Somehow, it didn't seem to make sense though. I handed Raven over to Starfire and she flew to the tower while the rest of us headed back to our vehicles and drove back. Once there, we all headed to the medical center. They were briefing BB on what had happened. I had to wait outside for a few moments, not fully ready to enter mentally. I took a few deep breaths to clear my mind of all past thoughts; they didn't need me having an episode along with BB being a wolf thing while Raven wasn't conscious. I entered once I knew I was calm and in complete control.

"And your telling me that I did that to her? That's impossible." Beast Boy asked, scared and worried.

"We found you with her." Robin answered; still looking at Raven's healing form. I went to stand next to Starfire, not wanting to get involved with the conversation.

"No. I wouldn't!" BB stated, "I mean, we had a fight but I would never…"

"She was in your teeth." Star sadly answered.

"That's a lie!" BB shouted, rage displayed across his face. We all turned to face the changeling. Robin walked over to him.

"I'm going to ask you to keep your voice down." He demanded, keeping his voice at a reasonably level. BB softened after a few seconds.

"What's happening to me?" He asked. I tuned everything out, and thought about a few things. _BB was affected by the chemicals, yes. But now thinking back to his room, it looked like a battle happened, and a loud one at that. I wonder if that was actually between him and Raven, or someone else besides Raven. Not to mention he tried to protect her when we found them._ The loud beeping of a heart monitor broke me out as BB shifted into that wolf thing again. I hopped the bed and stood in front protectively. Raven wasn't able to defend herself, which meant that _I_... I mean, _we_ had to protect her. BB charged, and I got ready. Cy shot a rope and it wrapped around his body and began to pull him away from me and Raven. Star and Robin charged after the tangled wolfman.

"Beast Boy. No!" Robin cried, only for BB to turn and with one arm, whacked them across the room and into the wall on the other side. Then he grabbed the cable and flung Cy into a another wall. _Crap._ I thought as he broke the cables that bound him. I tensed, ready for him to attack.

"Bring him down!" Robin ordered, finally coming to. _No problem,_ I grinned firing a few ice beams at the green wolfman, giving Cyborg a distraction, allowing him to attack from the side, BB dodged and smashed him down into the floor. He made short work of Starfire by throwing her thru the metal doors before heading towards me. Robin jumped in front of me and pulled out his bo-staff.

"Leave her alone!" he said as he attacked, a range of strikes that never hit the beast. He got a nice kick in, sending BB across the room, "Sleep tight." Robin growled, pulling out a disk and threw it at BB, who only dodged then landed a nasty uppercut on Robin, knocking him out. That just left me standing in-between him and Raven. I curled my hands into fists as he charged. I jumped and moved to the side in mid-air, flying out of the way as I hit him with a right hook. I flew at him again, not caring if everyone else saw me flying, and attacked again. I sent punch after punch, landing each one until he caught one, throwing me across the room and into a wall. I landed in pain, and watched as he approached Raven. Only he didn't hurt her, a strange but oddly familiar breathing pattern filled the room, _Is he sniffing her?_Two starbolts came from behind and hit the wolfman, pushing him through a wall. I was up and at Starfire's side, ready to kick his furry butt for real this time. Only instead of coming back at us, he ran away, and out of the tower. _Why would he run? I thought he was trying to hurt Raven?_

"Guard Raven in case he comes back." Robin looked to Starfire, though I was staying anyways, she wasn't going to be enough if he did come back, "Let's go." Robin and Cy left to try and track BB. We both turned to face Raven as the other two disappeared from sight.

"James. You were flying yes?" Star asked out of the blue.

I turned to her in shock, but regained myself and answered truthfully, "Yes. I was." Then I lied, "I guess it just unlocked itself when BB tried to attack. I guess that means I can use them both again."

"That is most wonderful news," she smiled, before turning to Raven, "and if the circumstances weren't-"

"I know, we would be celebrating huh." I finished for her. She nodded and we silently moved back to Raven's bedside, watching the new waves of stats appearing every few minutes on the monitor. A strangled scream came from outside, most likely BB's. Star flinched at the sound, but Raven woke up then, sitting up quickly and reaching for her head with one hand.

She groaned a few times, "Beast Boy." She managed to get out.

"Rest. You are safe." Star comforted, I just stood in the shadows, analyzing and thinking over what I had observed so far, "He can no longer harm you."

"He, didn't hurt me. He saved me." Raven corrected. Everything clicked as she said that.

"From what?" Starfire asked, confused.

"Adonis." I whispered. The two of them turned to me, shocked.

"What? How could you-" Raven started.

"Of course. It all makes sense. Adonis was the one that hurt you. He was the only other person to be affected by the chemicals," and then quietly growling to myself, "and he seems to have a _crush_ on you," before getting louder again, "And all this time, we have been trying to restrain Beast Boy." I explained, "We'll need to tell the others, Beast Boy is innocent, it's Adonis that attacked. It would explain a lot actually." I reached for my communicator, and called out for either Robin or Cyborg, but I caught Raven's curious glare as I hit the talk button.

_"Yeah, what's up."_ I heard Cy respond, there was some growling in the background.

"Raven's awake." I started, "and BB is innocent. It was Adonis that attacked. He's should be just like BB. A wolfish monster thing." I explained.

_"Man how would you know that it's Adonis?"_

"Because, he was the only other person that was in contact with those chemicals." I explained to him. The signal cut out then. I turned to the other two, worried.

"I hope they don't hurt him." I said regretfully. I now felt horrible for wanting to hurt Beast Boy the way I did. If I had known sooner, this would have all played out differently.

"Don't blame yourself. You didn't know." Raven must have felt my emotions because she was directing her comfort at me. I think. It could have been at Starfire. Or both of us. "Both of you. What matters is that I'm safe, and hopefully, so are the others." So she was talking to both of us.

"I know, it's just hard to-" my communicator beeped, interrupting my train of thought, "Yes?" I answered.

"James. It's Robin. Were on our way back to the tower. And you were right. It was Adonis that attacked Raven." Robin said.

"Okay. I guess we'll see you when you get back then." I answered, and hung up. I turned to the others, "They caught Adonis, and are coming back to the tower." The others smiled.

"Glorious! That means we can now do the celebrating of you finally getting you powers back!" Star squealed.

"What? What are you talking about? James what is she talking about?" Raven asked confused. I just smiled as I floated up into the air a foot, causing her jaw to drop a little, before being replaced with a small smile. "You can fly now?"

"Yep, I kinda did it when we though BB was trying to hurt you in the tower." I rubbed the back of my neck as I floated in the air. The guys came in while I was still floating, all jaws dropped. I just smiled.

"You. Can. Fly. Again?" Cy stuttered.

I grinned, "Yep." I said, popping the 'P'. I noticed BB wasn't with them, and before I could ask, Robin answered.

"He's outside, sitting by the shore."

"I should go talk to him then. He probably needs to hear from me that he never hurt me." Raven said, getting up to meet Beast Boy.

"Well. I'm going to bed." I fake yawned, trying to escape the room. Robin grabbed my arm, stopping me, "dude, let go. We can party later." And he did, after I growled and glared at him. I left the room, not looking back while I increased my hearing to listen in on Ravens and BB conversation.

"We're having a moment, don't ruin it." She stated. I felt slightly angered at that. I didn't like it for some reason, but I couldn't place why. _It's because she's like Sam, that has to be it. Right? Because she is just like Sam. It's not like I like like her._

"Beast Dude?" BB asked. I heard her groan. I smiled to myself; the changeling was pissing her off._It's because she's like Sam. I mean even if it wasn't, it's not like I like her that way, right? No, I'm imagining things. I have to be. But… crap. Why do I have to be so freaking clueless sometimes!_ I had stopped eavesdropping on their conversation by that point, _But it doesn't matter anyways, she doesn't like you back, so don't get your hopes up Fenton. Plus, you're a monster, why should they care? They'll just send you back once the truth comes out. They wouldn't understand what you're going through anyways. I guess I should try to avoid her, and maybe this_crush _will go away._ I made it to my room and was finally ready to just go to bed, in my boxers with no shirt on and still berating myself, when a knock at my door caused me to jump.

"James," My eyes widened as I recognized the voice, "it's Raven." I heard her quiet voice through my door. I face palmed,_Fuck my life!_

"One second," I called back putting on some sweats, and finding a shirt before opening the door, "Yes?" I asked, pulling the shirt over my chest. She just stared at me, eyebrow raised. "What?"

"I wanted to talk to you about a few things." She stated calmly, "Can I come in?"

"That depends, what do you want to talk about?" I question back, not able to hold back the grin or my teasing manner. Her eyes narrowed, "Fine, come in." I said, moving out of the way for her as she walked by me. I closed my door and turned to face her, wondering what on earth she was talking about.

"It's just I'm confused by you. One second you are defending me like I'm a lost puppy, and the next you're acting like Beast Boy. And it's really confusing. Not to mention your emotions are extremely strong when I can sense them."

"And where is this going exactly?" I asked, I was curious as to why she was even here, and what the hell was she trying to ask me.

"When we were facing Adonis, you were giving off very strong emotions of jealously, and then it switched to protecting me when Beast Boy got up in my face after being dosed with the chemicals. And again, you were protecting me when he had his little tantrum in the hallway. I want to know why?" _Wow, that's not being around the bush at all. Wait, what? She sensed that? How the hell? What the hell? Okay, calm down, it's not like she's staring at you with a glare,_ I looked at her, _Crap, she is glaring, fuck what do I do? What do I even say?_

"You going to answer, or just stand there and freak out, which by the way, I can sense everything you are feeling at the moment." She stated blatantly. _Fuck! But I don't have an answer. I mean, what exactly do I say to that,_ she was smirking at me now, _What is that for?_

"Uhh, I don't know?" _Wow, that was a great answer Fenton, let's just keep them coming._

"Right, because you're pale face and frantically searching eyes aren't telling me anything. Just answer the question."

"I don't know how to. I mean, how I can answer something if I don't even know what the question is asking!" _Please work! I thought I was going to enjoy this conversation, but now I don't even want to be awake._

"James. It isn't that hard of a question." She said, but her tone sounded almost like Sam…_Sam._ I fell to me knees, gripping my head. "James!" she called after me, her tone taken over with worry and fear. I just groaned, tightly closing my eyes as I formed fist fulls of hair on my head. All my thinking was going to cause an overload. I needed to calm down, or thing could get ugly, and fast. "James, you're not…" I knew what she was thinking, and it wasn't happening. Not yet.

"No," I moaned, I heard her intake a deep breath, "I'm fine." I managed to get out, taking deep breaths, "I just, my head started to hurt. I need to be alone, need time to sort a few things out." I opened my eyes to see Raven crouching next to me, concern in her eyes as well as the start of tears, _She's blaming herself? But it's not her fault,_ "It's not your fault, I just… I can't… I'll be fine."

I saw Raven get up and slowly make her way to my door, looking back at me apologetically before leaving. As soon as the door closed, I slammed both my fists into the floor._Damn it Danny! Way to go, she was trying to help you and you just pushed her away! God you're an idiot! Why do you have to keep pushing them all away?_ I took a deep breath before picking myself off the floor and a walking over to my bed. As I walked, I reflected back to what Raven had observed, how I had been somehow jealous, and that I was really protective. Now I was trying to justify that I didn't really like her, _Okay, let's think… The first time was because BB had hurt her, but…_I though deeply as to why I was so high strung, why I was accepting them, _Why am I accepting them, and why now? What is it that is really keeping me here?_A light bulb turned on in my head as I came to the conclusion, _Wow. I like her. Well I shouldn't be a big surprised, right, I mean we both are kind of into the same stuff… But she doesn't feel the same for me. She is still trying to get over that book dude anyways. Why would she like me, I mean I'm lying to them about who I really am. It would just hurt her, like_he_did._ Somewhere in the middle of all of this, I fell asleep, still thinking about the small crush I had on Raven.

The next morning was the same as any other day, if you don't count the fact that I was nervous when I was around Raven after my whole mental issues and coming to terms with my crush, and I ate breakfast and trained a little with Robin again. The red light went off as we sparred. I groaned as we left to head to the main room. Some bank robbery. Again. _Really, is that all villains do, rob places? So_not_original._ I mentally noted shaking my head in disappointment.

"You can stay here James. We got this one. Titan's go!" Robin said, leaving the room in a rush.

"Right, I have to help you to an underwater fortress, and a chemical lab with some dude in a supped up mech suit, and a night of trying to save Raven from who knows what, is all allowed; but helping out with a bank robbery is _too_ dangerous." I deadpanned. The others still in the room didn't say anything, just blinked. I face palmed before continuing, "I'll just meet you at the pizza joint in an hour, okay?" They nodded and left while I plopped down on the couch watching TV, slightly relieved that I wasn't near Raven, but at the same time, slightly worried that I wasn't going to be able to save her if she was hurt.

* * *

**Okay :D so that was chapter 11! What do you think? I was having issues with the whole crush thing, but I personally thought it would work the best if I did make Danny/James realize that he does like Raven in this chapter. I first thought it would be moving to fast, but I didn't really have any ideas for anything else before this so I put it here instead of leaving it out, because it would have left you all with another big cliffhanger and we cant have that. Not yet at least. :)**

**Ummm... so I got a question for you. Actually, more like two. Anyways, Do you think I should bring this down to a T rating, or leave it as an M?**

**And... Who wants to see Dani make her first real appearance in the next chapter?**

**Well, that's all for now... So, wee you next week! Maybe :D**


	12. I'm Screwed

**Hey! I'm back! And with a new chapter for you all! Yay! Ok, so a heads up, there are a lot of POV shifts in this chapter. **

**And, thank you to all that reviewed! I love reading what you write. They all make my day! :)**

**Well anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**GIW POV**

"And we aren't ambushing him why?!" Shouted a lower rank agent, frustrated with the situation. Yes, the titans had left him unprotected, but their security system was far too intricate to try and hack without them being notified, therefore bringing the risk factor of the mission to a higher fail rate. A failure they could not afford.

"Is Phantom alone? Yes. Should we be trying to recapture him? Yes. Why aren't we? Easy, because if we try to attack him while he is still in the tower and protected by their technologically advanced security system, they will sense the intrusion before we even have a chance to touch Phantom. It is much better to wait until Phantom himself leaves the tower rather than barge in and attack with our guns blazing." Agent O answered, while the young man just huffed, angrily seating himself in a small chair.

"You are relying on a hunch. One that if proven to be wrong, all of our asses are going to be fried, so excuse me sir, if I don't seem to be enthralled about the opportunity that you are currently wasting." The younger agent argued back, venom in his bitter tone.

"Now, Agent B, don't get to upset, we do know that Phantom will leave, and if the conditions are right," Agent B rolled his eyes, "We will be able to attack with full force. I'll even let you zap him with the ghost-neutralizing taser."

"Awesome." Agent B grinned, thinking about how much he wanted to use the Plasmius Maximus on the ghost boy.

**Danny POV**

The team came back not even thirty minutes later, honestly, I thought they would have taken longer, or that the GIW would have attacked, but they didn't. That was starting to get on my nerves, they haven't tried to attack me again and it was becoming a major stress problem for me. As if I needed any more of that. When everyone entered the room, I let out a small breath of relief as I noticed that no one was really hurt. Okay so I was relieved that Raven wasn't hurt but hey, that's a crush for you. _Damn it's getting worse. Fudge balls. Did I just think fudge balls… Oh my god, I'm turning into dad._ I shook my head to clear the thought out. A sudden voice behind me caused me to jump as I turned sharply towards BB.

"Dude, I don't get why Robin didn't let you come on this one. You could have helped get the civilians out while we took care of the gunmen." BB complained, completely oblivious to startling me as he plopped down on the couch next to me, pulling out a game controller and handing one to me. Well, actually, he shoved one into my hands and put his favorite game in the console and forced me to verse him. Not like I really cared, it might keep my mind off Raven, and that was hopefully a good thing, though I don't know if it would work. Yeah, last night I had a revelation and I realized that I have another big problem and that happens to be that I have a crush on the dark titan. _Yay me._ How is that a problem you ask? Well because I don't want to hurt her, or any of them because of who I am, what I am, and my past isn't that great either. So the solution was to try and avoid her and pray to all the good things in this realm and the next that this crush will go away. Which brings up another problem, avoiding her was going to be even harder than I had originally thought.

"Dude. I'm going to kick your butt like I always do." I challenged, tapping the buttons on the controller in a familiar patterned forming the killer combos that ultimately won the match for me. This isn't going to work, I don't even have to think when I play against him, so my mind wandered back to Raven.

"I play winner!" Cyborg shouted, interrupting my thoughts before they could go any farther as he seated himself on the other side of me, snatching the controller out of Beast Boy's hands and restarting the game. The exact same thing happened; I kicked his butt while thinking about Raven again. _Argh! This isn't working._ Then Robin wanted to play, stealing the controller from Cy's hands and we played against each other. And I have to say, for someone that doesn't play videogames that often, he was actually good and I actually had to try. That actually made me focus on the game but in the end, I still beat him. Not really a surprise though. I ended up staying quiet for the rest of the day, even when I wanted to smack talk the other three as we continued to pound the small buttons on the plastic devices in our hands, but I didn't.

Eventually I gave up and headed to my room, hoping to be left alone for an hour at least. I decided to meditate while I was there, thinking it would actually help me get over Raven if I meditated by myself, instead of with her like I usually did in the mornings. I think I ended up being able to meditate for a few hours before a knock on my door broke me out of my trance.

"Yo, man, it's dinner time, if you're hungry?" Cy's deep voice boomed through my door.

"Thanks, I guess I'll come out, otherwise you would drag me down to the kitchen anyways." I sighed, getting up off the floor and walked to the door and greeted the cybernetic teen as I left the solitude of my room.

"Yea, you're probably right. Robin told me to get you down there by any means necessary." Cy said nervously, "But I'm glad I don't have to force you… So, what were you doing in there?"

"Nothing. Just thinking about my life and the problems or harm that it has or will cause for everyone around me. You know, just life." _Wow, I don't sound depressing at all_. Cy must have thought the same thing because he didn't really say anything the rest of the way down to the kitchen. That silence was broken when everyone else saw me enter the room.

"James, glad you came down!" Robin smiled.

"Yes. It is most wonderful that you have come to join us in the meal of the evening!" Starfire was beaming.

"Hey." I sounded really depressed, and they caught on because their happy faces became serious at my tone.

"What's wrong?" Robin asked. He was always the one to ask first. I did notice Raven narrow her eyes at me, like she knew something, or was very close to knowing something.

"Rob, don't worry about it. He was just thinking back on his life. He just hasn't come out of that mood yet. No big deal." Cy explained, everyone had relaxed after that as me and Cy walked over to the table, and because it's just my luck, the only open seat was the one next to Raven. _Of course! The universe just hates me, and because I said I wanted to stay away from her, I end up having to get closer! Fuck my life!_ I sat down, not trying to draw attention to myself, but wouldn't you know it, Raven was staring at me, probably from sensing my emotions. This just keeps getting better and better.

"Yeah?" I asked Raven, giving her one of those what-are-you-looking-at looks. She quickly turned away, but was sneaking glances at me thought out the meal. Dinner was like it always was, everyone talking about the mission or missions they had to take care of during the day, or new jokes if Beast Boy was talking. Honestly, I wanted to get dinner over with and go to bed, but the titan's had other plans, and they decided that we were going to watch a movie. Joy.

"Okay everyone! What movie should we watch?" Beast Boy called out, as we piled onto the couch. The universe is fucking with me I swear because I ended up next to Raven again, and when we gave our opinion for which movie to watch, it ended up being a horror because Raven and I have the same taste in movie genres so we outnumbered everyone else. What a surprise? So can you guess what we watched? Yep, a _horror_ movie. Only they conveniently forgot that I don't like ghost movies, and decided to that we should watch a ghost horror movie. _Guess I'm watching a comedy. Awesome._ Yeah. Seeing as that I'm a ghost or half ghost, ghost horror movies are very humorous to me, and the ghost movie they wanted to watch was... "Paranormal Activity"? Or "Grave Encounters"? Or "Insidious"? Something along those lines, I don't really remember the title and honestly I didn't really care, I was trying so hard not to laugh during the entire movie. A few times, Raven hid behind my shoulder, while I was holding back my laughter at the 'scary' scenes, but not just that, I was also trying not to put my arm around her. You know, to comfort her in a sense. God that was hard, but when the lights came on, everyone was pale white and completely horror stricken. Well, everyone but me. That's when I finally let loose the laughter I was trying so desperately to hold back, and fell on the floor in a laughing fit, holding my sides because they hurt from laughing so hard.

"That… was… the… most… hysterical… thing… I… have… ever… seen!" I screamed, laughing in between each word, before laughing at full force again, kicking my legs in the air as I laughed.

"How the hell was that funny? Dude! That scared the shit out of me! It was scarier than the time we watched Wicked Scary. And even scarier than when Raven accidently made the movie come to life!" Beast Boy exclaimed, his hands moving around in the air like no tomorrow trying to explain his point.

I was giggling as I sat up, my eyes watering as I spoke, "You remember how I said I don't do ghost movies?" everyone but Raven nodded, "That's why. Any scary movie that is focused on ghosts or spirits or the afterlife is like a comedy to me." I explained, the last of my giggles leaving my system. They all looked to me dumbfounded.

"How? How could you think _that_ was a comedy?" Robin asked, still confused and in shock.

I stood up, "Because, because it's so fake! I mean come on! I use to live in the most haunted city in the US. I saw ghosts every day. Everything I just watched was just made up and edited to look scary when in reality; it's not even remotely true to what ghosts really are or what they do!" I explained again, the look on their faces were great, "Then again, I'm partially insane so I guess me thinking that it was funny is to be expected. But next time you want to watch a horror movie, let me pick it. I know the best horror movies out there." I gave a very evil looking grin, "Ones that can give you a real scare." followed by my best evil laugh, scaring the team even more. I could see the goose bumps that appeared on all of them, and I knew my job was done.

"Dude," BB whimpered, "that was scarier than the movie." I looked over to Raven, who was sharing a very similar expression as the rest of the team, and I almost showed a face of regret, but somehow I managed to hold it back. _Oops. Well, I guess that should help my situation, even though I feel horrible about doing it._ I continued my sinister laugh as I exited the room and headed to my own and got ready for bed. I was sure my little stunt was going to keep them awake for a week. I fell into bed with a without a second thought, falling asleep a second after my head hit the pillow.

**Raven POV**

Holy. Crap. James literally had a scary factor that could have terrified my father. Literally. I wouldn't be surprised if the others didn't sleep after that. I know I didn't get much and the next morning, I was up on the roof meditating while waiting for James to show up. Only he didn't, and that confused me. I meditated on my own for the few hours that I usually did before heading back down to the main room, finding James sitting on the couch playing video games with the two boys like he usually did.

"Dude, are you sure Raven won't be pissed at you for ditching her?" BB asked James worried. _He ditched?_

"Nah, she'll get over it." He responded shaking his head, neither knowing that I was in the room. _He blew me off! To play videogames! I don't think so!_ I stormed over to the couch and grabbed James by the back of his neck and pulled him over the back of the couch and flipped him around to face me. He just had a blank expression while BB and Cy were hiding on the other side of the room in fear. And they should be.

"You ditched! Why?" I demanded angrily. He just continued to stare at me, not moving, and not answering. "Well?!"

"I didn't feel like going." He simply put, shrugging his shoulders.

"Excuse me?"

"Look. I can do what I want okay. I don't have to meditate with you if I don't want to." And he got up and left the room which left me angry, but he was also feeling regret for what he said and did which left me very confused as well. This trend continued for the rest of the week, he would rarely come out of his room. It was mostly just to eat and to do some light training, and then headed back up to his room. And if on the rare occasion that he did come out other than for a meal, he would leave if I was in the room or if I entered the room shortly after him. I had tried to get him to come out, but he wouldn't listen to me, or anyone else for that matter. I was becoming more and more fed up with his behavior, but also concerned as well. It was like he was regressing in a sense, and something had caused it but none of us knew what it was. I had run into him a few times in the hallways, and he would turn and head in a different direction, but he wasn't happy about it.

I decided that I was going to confront him after dinner tonight when he ran back to his room like he has been recently. I watched as he got up after he finished his plate and walked over to the sink, cleaned it off, put it in the dishwasher, and left the room. I got up and did the same running after him into the hallway, cutting him off as I phased up from the floor in front of him. He was taken aback slightly as he watched me appear from the floor, his head looking in-between the floor and me a few times as if he was trying to understand what just happened.

"We need to talk." I demanded bluntly, causing him stare at me blankly before to snorting as he turned to walk in the other direction.

"I don't want to talk. Just leave me alone." He said softly, not even looking back at me. I ran after him, grabbing his wrist and spinning him around to face me.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't feel like it."

"I don't think so. We are going to talk, now. So start talking." I was losing my patience.

"No."

"Fine, I'll talk. Want to tell me why you have become an introvert? Why you don't talk to anyone, why you avoid everyone? Why you avoid me? Did we do something to make you mad at us? At me? I mean, you have to let us know that we did something wrong. We are trying to help you here, why won't you let us?" I demanded, trying to be gentle but he was ignoring me and that was pissing me off and I snapped, "Stop ignoring me, and answer the question!"

"Because I will hurt you!" I flinched at his frustrated tone, "One way or another, and you guys just don't get it. I'm not worth the effort, but you insist that I need it and keep pushing." He said forcefully. The thing is that even though outside he was showing anger, but he's emotions weren't of anger, only regret and sadness, and it was puzzling. _Why does it feel like he is hurting himself just to protect us? What is causing him to do that?_

"How could you say that? We know what happened to you, and you expect use to just ignore it! We can't do that. We can't just forget it, I know I can't. We are trying to help you, but you're the one that has to let us." I was hurt that he could possibly think that he wasn't worthy of our help. He turned and tried to walk away. "Wait. I'm not done talking to you yet."

"Well I am." I pulled him back, and saw his blank expression and the single tear that leaked from his eye, I could see he really didn't want to be pushing us away but he was doing it anyways, "Just go away, please." He was hurting and it seemed to be from what he was saying, but why?

"No." I said forcefully, staring at him with determination. I was going to figure out why he was acting this way, why something was causing him to act this way. "What did I do to piss you off? It must have been something because you won't leave your room except for meals. And when I'm in the room, you turn and leave, or if I walk in you leave, so I know it has something to do with me but I can't tell what it is." He may have had a blank face, but his eyes were showing all the emotion even though they seemed to be staring off into space. Pain, sadness, and regret, but there was also a small amount of hope. Hope? Hope for what? "Look, I know it's something, but I don't want you to be mad at me for whatever I did,"

His head snapped up in disbelief, and a sad confusion masking his face, his emotions were in a turmoil at my last sentence, like he couldn't make up his mind on what to be feeling, "But, I want to fix it. Just tell me so-" I was cut off when he cupped my face and in the same instant, pressed his lips to mine. I couldn't move. I was so confused that I didn't have words for it. I just waited for what seemed like forever before he pulled away, gazing at my face with concern. He still held my head in his hands gently as he continued to study me; my face was twitching in confusion while I stared with wide eyes at him. _Did he just…_ I tried to start a sentence more than once, only strange sounds ended up coming out instead as I couldn't actually form the words in my head to ask, and after a few seconds his eyes widened with some form of realization.

"I shouldn't have done that." He finally gasped, dropping his hands to my shoulders, "I'm sorry," his head dropped as he looked to the floor, his hands pulling to his sides and forming fists while he closed his eyes, "I shouldn't… have-" then turned and ran out of the hall. All I could do was just stand there, starting at the empty space of where he was last at, in complete shock. _What just happened?_ Slowly, I began to regain my head, my mind finally processing what just took place. _I thought he was mad at me, but… this makes no sense. He just kissed me, and then ran off. Why would he? What is going on?_ I needed to go into my mind and figure this out, and it most definitely wasn't going to be pretty.

**Danny POV**

The week had gone by really slowly, and avoiding Raven had been difficult, but I painfully managed to do so. The only time I came in contact with her was at meal times. Or if I unluckily came out for something and she was already in the room or coming into the room. It being a quiet week for them didn't help my situation either, so when she decided to confront me about it after dinner a week after my solitude, I freaked. I tried to tell her to leave me alone, but she wasn't having it what so ever. In a way I was happy, happy that she cared about me in a sense, but I knew I shouldn't be, so I had to push harder to try to drive her away, even if I was going to crush myself by driving her away.

"No." she growled, "What did I do to piss you off. It must have been something because you won't leave your room except for meals. Look, I know it's something, but I don't want you to be mad at me," I couldn't believe that she thought that I was mad at her, I wasn't mad at her, I don't think it was possible at the moment, "But, I want to fix it." She wants to fix it? That's when I lost all control over my feelings and acted, "Just tell me so-" I cupped her face and in the second after, I pressed my lips to hers, effectively cutting her off. I held the kiss for a few seconds, my head spinning from the small kiss. It was something I have been practically dying to do for the past week and had gotten stronger every time I had seen her which is why I had to leave the room whenever I saw her. I sadly had to pull away. I looked into her wide and very confused eyes, looking for any signs of my feelings being returned, and didn't find any. _I knew I shouldn't have done that! Crap what was I thinking!_

"I shouldn't have done that." I released her face, gripping her shoulders for support, "I'm sorry." I was whispering now as I pulled my gaze to the floor and dropping my hands to my side, my nails digging into my palms as I shook, "I shouldn't… have-" I couldn't take it anymore, so I did the first thing that came to my mind, I ran. I ran and ran and ran. By the time I had stopped running, I ended up somewhere in a park, trying to pull my thoughts and self together. I found a bench and sat down, holding my head in my hands as I beat myself up for doing that. Stupid! I can't believe I did that! She doesn't like me, I should have known that.

_Gahh, why am I trying to hurt myself even farther? It's like I can't win. I can never win! Freaking A!_ I don't know how long I sat there for, thinking to myself about what I did and how it was going to be the most awkward thing in the world trying to explain myself, to explain that I like her, but it was getting late, and I was going to need to face Raven sooner or later. And right now I preferred sooner because of the hell that was going to follow. I took on last look around me before starting my long walk back to the tower, and eventually, my confrontation with Raven. I was walking by the warehouse that was near the underwater passage that we take to get to the tower when I heard the one thing that meant I wasn't going back. And at the best case scenario, I wasn't going back unscathed.

**GIW POV**

"Alright, the Phantom has left the tower. I repeat Phantom has left the tower. Initiate recapture sir? Over." A voice came thru on the com link.

"Yes. Squadron one, follow Phantom. Wait for my signal squadrons two and three before we attack. Over." Agent K replied.

"Yes sir. Squadron one following target as we speak. Squadrons two and three awaiting orders. Over." The response came. Agent K turned to the computer techy of the group who was currently working on some coded screen typing energetically.

"How's the hacking?" He asked.

"Good sir, I have got a visual on Phantom thanks to traffic cameras throughout the city, Sir." The younger agent polity responded.

"And where is he?" Agent K asked.

"He is currently in the park, a place way too out in the open for us to strike. We should wait until he decides to head back to the tower, there is a warehouse near the exit he came out of, based off of my maps of the city." the younger one grinned, a plan was obviously forming in the younger agents head, "Sir. I can pull up the floor plans for the building so you can plan out a battle formation.

Agent K smiled at the response, "Good idea. I'll send the other two squads to the building now. Squads two and three." Agent K called into the mic, "There should be a warehouse just a mile from your current location, hide inside and wait for Phantom to come by. Squad one, continue to trail Phantom, when he reached the warehouse, I want you to attack, sending him inside. Over."

"Yes sir. Squadrons two and three heading to landmark now. Over." Came the reply, "Squadron one trailing Phantom."

"Sir? We might have a slight problem if the Titans get involved." The younger agent said, a little nervous.

"Well, do you think you could jam their sensors so that they won't get involved if called in?" Agent K asked.

"Yes sir. By the time they realized they have been jammed though, we should already be back at base, with Phantom."

"That will work, I'm good with that. Start the encrypting, and good work Agent T." The younger agent released a breath of air as he began his tedious work of sending out the jamming signal for the general area, taking out all communication towers for a few hours.

"Yes sir." Agent T responded. After an hour of typing, he leaned back into his chair, "Easy as taking candy from a baby." Agent T grinned before hitting send and jamming all communications to the tower, "Okay sir, we are ready for a go when you are."

"Sir! Phantom is headed to the warehouse. Attack?"

Agent K turned to the mic and grinned, "All agents in position. Squad one, attack on my mark." Agent T had a street cam open for Agent K to watch, "Three… Two…" then activated the jam for the rest of the city, "One. Mark!" The troops quietly moved from their hiding places, along with their leader, Agent O, ready to take Phantom out. Agent K was going to join them once Phantom was successfully in the building.

**Danny POV**

"I expected you to be more of a challenge, Phantom, but I guess I was wrong." I spun on my heels, searching the darkness of night around me for the figure, but I couldn't find anything. A quick tap on my shoulder caused me to turn, only to see a metal fist collide with my face, a crunching noise sounding as it hit, blasting me thru the wooden wall of a nearby warehouse, I slid across the concert floor a few feet before coming to a stop. My arms were definitely scraped up by the small amount of stinging that was coming from my elbows, and I knew my nose had broken from the impact because I could feel the warm crimson liquid flow from my nose and pour onto the floor, my vision becoming blurry from the tears forming in my eyes. I moved just enough so I could move my hands to my nose, wincing as popping sounded when I reset the break. Wiping the tears and blood from my face, I started to get up, trying to ignore the pain in my face when a taser dug into to the side of my neck, electrocuting me as a scream of pain escaped my lips, causing me to collapse back to the ground in agony, reaching to the spot I was just zapped at. I groaned, looking for an exit. Finding one, I got onto all fours and tried to crawl away.

"Where do you think you're going, Phantom?" A new voice, also familiar, ridiculed as he asked the question. I looked forward to see air, knowing that to the left was a wall of crates; I looked to my right, a boot greeted my face and flipped me over and on my back. Just as I landed, another boot slammed into the side of my ribcage, a small yelp broke through my mouth at the impact, but it was silenced when that very same boot stomped down on top of my chest. All the air rushed out of my lungs and I think something cracked too. I coughed up some blood as I painfully rolled over, spitting the bitter tasting fluid onto the cement while trying to take in oxygen, some trickling out of the corner of my mouth now while my nose was still bleeding. I was gasping for air, trying to replenish the supply that had been stripped from me.

"Back up. Let him at least get up before we attack him again." Voice number one rang out in the now chilly air. I reached for the wall of wooden crates to my side with one of my bloody hands and used it to help keep my balance as I got up to my feet as examined the room around me, the other at my side holding the collection of broken ribs that I'm positive that I now had. As I looked around, I froze, fear and dread spreading throughout my body and face while my paniced breathing picked up speed. Here in the rundown building with me were The Guys in White. Over twenty agents all armed with guns or some form of ecto-weapon.

"No." I whispered, I tried to move to another opening, only an ecto-staff hit me first, sending me back towards the boxes. More bones cracked from the impact of the staff, causing more blood to expel from my mouth as I took down the pile of wooden containers as I collided with them. My hands shot out for anything that would help me stand up, pain spreading through my body with every breath. _I think they broke a few more ribs_. My healing wasn't kicking in like it usually did and that was bothering me. _Why hasn't it started to heal my bones?_ I searched my surrounding area for anything to give me some time to get help when Agent K pulled out an ecto-gun and fired. A burning pain exploded around my chest as the laser hit me, pushing me up and over a conveyer belt. _That shouldn't have hit me! Why couldn't I go intangible? What is going on?_ Slowly and painfully, I picked myself up and grabbed the metal frame in front of me, clinging to it like my life depended on it. Oh wait, it does. _Don't panic, yet. There is still a chance you can get out of this one._

"You remember this right?" Agent O mocked, holding up a small square device, pink energy cackling at one end. I was now panicking. _No. No, no, no, no, no. Not that. Not the Plamius Maximus!_ "Oh, I see we do remember. Then you know that you are now powerless for a few hours, thus making you much less of a threat." He continued, placing the device back in a younger agents hands before reaching for his ecto-staff. I was hyperventilating now, my heart racing way too fast for even a normal human. I had no way to protect myself, my powers were on lockdown and there were too many of them. But I had to try anyway, to try anything, even calling for help. _The Titan's!_ I reached for my communicator and flipped it open ready to call the Titan's, only for it to be shot out of my hands and destroyed on contact, the remains shattering as it hit the wall behind me. I gulped and was breathing with panicking rhythm as I looked back at the agents.

"Not so tough now are we?" Agent K taunted playfully, a grin spreading across his lips, along with the other agents in the room. I sprinted to the door, dodging as many ecto-blasts as I could, reaching the door in a longer time than it normally would have. My ribs pressing into my lungs made it hard to breath as I broke into a sad excuse for a run, which was a limping jog, to the doors and only to find them locked. There was a slight buzz in my pocket, _my phone_, I quickly pulled it out and sent a message 'J-911' to Cy, it was my last hope, and just hoped that he would get it in time. What worried me was that they weren't trying to stop me, I didn't really think about it but I probably should have.

"Come on," I grunted, slamming myself into the door, more pain screaming though my chest, "come on," it hurt so badly, but I was desperate, very desperate as I continued my bombardment on the door with my shoulder, "Yes!" I shouted as I busted the doors opened, I rushed outside, rushing to safety as I could now see the glowing T out in the bay, only to be launched back across the room and through another pile of crates, only these ones were a thin metal and landed on the other side of the room. I continued to roll until I hit the wall behind the boxes. A green rope wrapped around my waist and hoisted me up into the air, and threw me through the roof of the building and over the edge. I instinctively reached out for anything, my hands finding the edge of the roof, my hands and arms full of slashes as I went through the thin metal ceiling. I pulled myself up. _If I can just pull myself up on top of the…_ My elbows were holding me up now while my chin was just barely resting against top of the roof when two pairs of white boots came into view. _Oh no._ I gulped as I looked up at the two smiling agents.

"See you back in the labs, Phantom." Agent O smirked, a white boot connected with my jaw, then the weightlessness of free falling. There was a sickening crunch as I landed on the ground from the roof of the warehouse, blacking out instantly.

**GIW POV**

"Alright. I got him." The response came from an earpiece in Agent K's ear, as it came through, another agent was pulling the unconscious ghost boy by his hair. The boy began to groan, and the agent just whacked his head against the pavement to shut him up.

"Give him another hit. We don't want him to wake while he head back to HQ." Agent K ordered. Another agent hit a button and green bolts of electricity traveled down a rope that then attached itself to the teens body, making him twitch for a few seconds before becoming motionless again as the last few sparks slowly died away.

"Good, everyone else. Get aboard the craft." Agent O ordered, jumping in the plane that hovered silently above the ground. After everyone else was onboard, the craft doors shut as the plane headed back to the base, ghost boy in their custody, ready for more tests, and punishment for escaping and evading them for so long.

**Raven POV**

I was finally able to come to my senses as I entered my room. I looked into my large mirror and I was bright red, blushing from the kiss James gave me. I didn't think I actually needed to go into nevermore as much as I actually needed to just talk to James. Everything was now making sense though, why he clung onto me during his episode, why he was jealous when Adonis attacked me, why he was so protective over me when Beast Boy had attacked me in the hallway, why he hung out with me during those two weeks, why he then tried to avoid me. It was never because he was mad at me; he had a crush on me. Me. The Dark Titan. But, did I feel the same way about him? I didn't know, I wasn't sure I wanted to answer that. He said he would just hurt all of us if we got to close. But what did that even mean?

_Raven! Your gonna wanna get in here!_

_Yeah. You need to get in here, now._ Great, my emoticlones were now yelling at me through my head. Guess I actually have to go into Nevermore. I walked over to my dresser and picked up my portable mirror, and with my regular chant, I entered my mind. What I saw made me do a double take. Brave, Wisdom, Rude, and Rage had pinned Happy and Affection to the ground while Timid and Fear were hiding behind a tree.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked, a little annoyed that my clones had contacted me while I was still in the main reality.

"You are so lucky we pinned her" motioning to Affection, "when we did, or you would still be in the hallway doing only Azar knows what." Brave simply put. I was getting a very bad feeling out of this.

"Or she would have been jumping for joy like rabbit in a field of carrots." Wisdom added, motioning to Happy. Great, what was that supposed to mean?

"And I should be grateful that you stopped them because?" I motioned for more information on the situation. Rage growled at the two girls that were currently being pushed farther into the rocky surface.

"If we didn't intervene, either Affection or Happy would have taken over and all hell would have broken lose shortly after." Wisdom answered, while I just stared at them, dread running through me. _They tried to do what? Well at least they came to the rescue. That's a first._

"Let us go!" Happy whined.

"The deepest parts of hell wouldn't even give you that much of a fat chance!" Rude simply snarled.

"Yeah! Come on. He kissed us! You can't tell me it wasn't the most amazing thing ever! I mean he's super cute, likes everything about us, and have you seen that body. Like Oh My God!" Affection squealed, I just face palmed. _Great. Just great. This is the last thing I need to deal with and now she is starting to make me think about that._ Rage growled at them again, obviously gaining some power thanks to me.

"Look," I started, calming down just a little, "It was a shock and unexpected. It means nothing!"

"It does too! And you _know_ it!" Affections shouted back, "You like him, meaning we all do. Just admit it!"

"I do not. It was nothing. And I'm leaving." I growled, walking away. Only the last part hit me. I don't like him? Do I?

"You're doubting yourself. You're emotions. Us. So, is it true? Do you like him back?" Wisdom asked, making me pause and turn to walk back to the group.

"Let them up. Now." They reluctantly obeyed but also curious as to where this was going to lead to. They let up Happy, who started to run around like a plane, and Affection, who I turned to, "Start talking."

"About what?" She asked innocently.

"Why do I like him? I shouldn't and I can't, not now. Yet you are obviously taken over, so why?"

"Easy. What has he done other than protect us, that and he is cute."

"He's unnaturally blond."

"So, his eyes are gorgeous! That blue is like looking at ice crystals. And those abs!" Affections was practically drooling.

"That's physical. That is not what you are supposed to be focused on."

"Yeah, but if you put that aside, he has protected us on more than one occasion, and he literally was jealous when that loser Adonis trying to hit on us. Plus, he doesn't think we are creepy." Everyone shivered at that, even Rage, "And I'll bet anything that he was nervous to be around us which is why he avoided us all week." Affection explained, all of which was making more and more sense… and yet, I wasn't sure I could agree. Could I?

"That is a good observation. But is it enough for Raven to agree with us, and return those feelings?" Wisdom thought aloud, while they all turned to look at me, each giving me their own look of curiosity, or a grin in Happy and Affection's case.

"You agree with her? Weren't you just trying to stop her?" I asked. To be honest, I was kind of pissed. They were not ganging up on me.

"Well, she does bring up good points, and I do have to say, I have noticed that you do seem to be drawn to him in some aspects... But, never the less, you are the one that has to make the final decision about your true feelings. We only represent them, and all of us combine to make you who you are." Wisdom stared blankly. I left my mind after that, having a lot to now think about, and if I was really ready for that again.

I noticed that it was late and James still hadn't returned to the tower. I figured he went to stay at his house for the night, so I went to bed, unsure of my emotions and what I should even do. The next day passed by slowly, and still no sign of James. The others weren't that worried, but I was, but I didn't say anything. I had a very bad gut feeling about his disappearance, and that he would have contacted us by now, letting us know he was okay. We were all sitting in the main room this morning when a breaking news report came on.

"And this just in, the notorious murderer, Danny Phantom, had been recaptured and is currently in the custody of the government. According to sources, he was arrested late last night in what appears to be a very nasty fight, but the agents involved in the re-arrest of the criminal has assured us that we can sleep soundly now that he is off the streets…" the news lady continued onto another subject, but just then, Cy beeped.

"What the… I don't remember getting this?" he asked in confusion. _Huh? What didn't he get?_

"Get what?" Robin asked, a serious tone in his voice.

"This message, it was sent like… yesterday," his eyes widened to a considerable size, "oh no."

"What?" We all asked, very concerned at this point, and by the look on Cyborg's face, it wasn't good. _James._

"Cyborg, what does the message say?" Robin asked first.

"J-9-1-1" Cy whispered slowly. My heart sank. _No!_

"No. Cy when was it sent."

"Last night. A few hours after he left the tower." Cy finally answered, fear and panic written clearly on his face. We all were now thinking the same thing. James was recaptured, and we weren't able to help. _No! He was gone!_

"James." The rest of us said in unison, the same tone in all of us. _He was taken again. He was attacked, and we didn't help. Why weren't we called about this?_

"Robin, shouldn't we have been notified about this? If he was attacked? Wouldn't our alarms have gone off?" I asked, hoping he was going to say yes, struggling to keep my voice neutral.

"Yes, they should have." He said, instantly turning to the main computer and began searching for anything that would have come in on that night, and the next morning. Two files popped up. One, an alert when the actual attack took place, the other was the news article about a destroyed abandoned warehouse. It was about to get much worse. We all rushed to the location of his abduction, and upon reaching the warehouse we discovered that there had been a battle there. BB turned into a blood hound and began to sniff around, leading us to a dried puddle of blood on the concrete floor of the building. The heartbreaking look on the green dogs face as he looked up to us, a small whimper that confirmed our fear. James was abducted and we didn't know about it.

"No." I barley whispered. _They took him back._ Starfire was speechless after her high pitched gasp. The room was destroyed, and James was nowhere in sight. A large hole was easily noticeable in the ceiling; glass and blood were everywhere while the ceiling and walls had scorch marks. On the other side of the hole and on the ground there was a small pool of dried blood, telling us where he fell. My gut was telling me that it wasn't a fair fight, that James was just beaten senselessly until he finally fell from the roof.

"Argh! Why weren't we notified sooner?!" Robin shouted, punched a wall in frustration while BB looked like didn't understand what he was seeing. Cy was just speechless. "Why did we let this happen? How could we? Why didn't I?" Robin stuttered, Starfire moved to comfort him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"We should check for traffic camera's maybe we can figure out who did this?" Cy offered sadly.

"That's a good idea Cyborg. Me and Cyborg will go to check out the cameras while you guys try to find out why we didn't get the signal three weeks ago." Robin ordered, a small amount of hope reappearing in him. The three of us headed back to the tower to do as Robin asked. There was something off about this though. The news said that Phantom was abducted, but James was the one that was missing. It wasn't a coincidence, was it?

**Danny POV**

I groaned as I woke up, the light coming though the small cracks in the walls stung my eyes. I shut them tightly, reaching up to rub them when pain shot through my body. I tried to remember why I was in so much pain. Then I did. I was back in their hands. And I was in a lot of trouble.

"Ah, you're finally awake." A voice noted lazily, "Good, I'll have the guards come and take you to my room for a few tests." The sound of a small button was pressed, "Guards, he is awake and I require your assistance to take him to room 309B. Thank you." I was screwed. A few minutes later, three guards had come through the doors, I tried to move but I found that I was bound to the wall by loose shackles that were glowing green, meaning one thing. Ghost proof. There was a sickening crack and I blacked out, awaking up again, tied to a chair in a different room, and not a cell. It almost seemed like an interrogation room, but bigger, like the size of an operating room. There was a table in front of me, full of small knives and clubs, most looked like they would be able to affect ghosts.

"So, you thought you were so clever to keep out of our hands for so long, but you are only foolish. I mean did you really think that we wouldn't come back for you?" He asked, jamming a needle into my arm, pumping in a greenish liquid into my bloodstream. It began to sting but I remained silent. "You know that they aren't happy with you. They have their own form of punishment for you. And I can tell that it's only going to get worse for you each day, at least until they think you have learned your lesson." He continued to explain, walking over to pick up one of the scalpels. I glared at him the entire time, even as he dug the small blade into my arm, the stinging returning, but it wasn't the same as ectoranium. Just anti-ghost, which meant the ectoranium blades were going to come later on.

"Hmm, they did say you were different, but I never expected this. Red, but with a touch of green. So I suppose they weren't lying when they said you were a hybrid. Curious, no? But the unknown scares us all, so to make the unknown the known is our job. To decrease the fears of the general public, yes?" He spoke to himself as he continued to study my blood, and then the surprise as my skin healed itself over. "Hmm, so you heal quickly, interesting. I wonder…" he trailed off, putting the scalpel down and grabbing a hammer like object, all the while, giving me a thinking type look. Without warning, he slammed the object down on the same arm. Was it painful, yes, but I didn't show it, much. I could feel the bruise that was starting to form under the skin after a few minutes. He continued his small tests, which I assumed after a few hours were to test my healing rate.

These small tests grew quickly in scale, and after a few days, I was being hit and cut with the ectoranium infused weapons. The cuts became more like slashes, the hits became harder and using heavier clubs. I tried to escape once, and that ended with me skipping the usual regime, but to be sent to a different room, chained to the wall, and whipped for the day. Ectorainium coated leather was used to strike my bare skin without mercy. I could feel the never ending blood that seemed to pour out of the gashes on my back, and pool beneath my feet, and eventually my knees. They basically whipped me until I passed out, which was a few hours, then woke me up by dunking my head in a bucket of freezing cold ice water, and then continued to whip me. They repeated this process for the entire day, I would pass out, they would wake me up, and continue to whip me. I couldn't sleep on my back for a week. And even a week after that, I still could not move without stressing the welts that had formed there. It was so gruesome that I couldn't look in the mirror for a while. But when I did, I could see the unorganized and mutilated pattern of criss-crossing scars that now decorated my back. Most still trying to scab over, and easily ripping at the smallest of movements. I would like to say that was the worst of it, but it wasn't, they started with electrocution, burns, and freezing, and eventually, I was taken to see how fast I could regenerate broken bones. They luckily started with smaller ones, like fingers and toes, but each day they became more daring, and eventually began breaking the largest of them, leaving my spine and neck alone. It was worse than any beating I had ever gotten when I was here last time. And I couldn't do anything about it. This time I didn't have my dad to break me out. I could only hope that the Titan's were going to come, but with each passing day, I was becoming less and less hopeful.

I had been here for about a month, the agony that I was forced to suffer through, blood caked my lips and various places all over my body, my senses were coming to as well. I recognized a cold metal feeling on my back, cooling the stinging pain that was still there, as well as shackles that bound my hands above my head while my feet were below me and spread apart slightly. I blinked a few times as a bright white light flooded my sight. When I had finally adjusted to the light a needle stuck itself into my neck, sending a fire like feeling surging through my veins. I let out a muffled scream, my throat still sore from my screams I let out as I was beaten brutally during this month.

"Oh good, your awake. I'll just call the others so we can get started." Said a voice from somewhere on my left. I lifted my head to examine the room around me. I freaked. The only other person in the room at the moment, and he was wearing what looked like a surgeons outfit, all light blue scrubs and standing near a tray of surgical equipment that I knew all too well. I panicked watching him say something over the intercom, panting heavily out of fear as I took in more of the room, the operating lights above me, the viewing window near the ceiling, the white walls and ceiling, the beeping of machines against a wall on my right. Just then, three other people came in, all wearing the same outfits, and walked over to the table as they put on their latex gloves.

"No! Please! No! Not again! Please not again! Please, I'm begging you, not again!" I pleaded; tears unleashed and rolled down my face like two waterfalls as I understood what was happening as I thrashed uselessly against the bindings that held me in-place. But it had no effect on the surgeon as he turned around, a scalpel at the ready in his hand, as he walked the two steps over to me. One of his assistants had smacked my cheek, I whimpered but it did effectively shut me up before the head doctor reached my side.

"Now, don't move, this will hurt less if you don't move." He stated flatly. I screamed at the contact, slamming my head back down into the metal table as he dug the green blade into my chest. The stinging pain the still lingered from ectroranium blade was a second before, the familiar tingling feeling as blood flowed down my sides. I felt the familiar cuts, the shape they took, that Y shape that has been permanently carved into my chest before. I struggled as I felt the skin and tissue being roughly pulled, and stretched to their maximum length, from their fixed location on my body, the pricking of the flaps being pinned to the table before they reached for the next layer. The process repeated itself three more times before I felt the probing of my insides, how I could feel every small movement, every twitch of his fingers as he moved across my organs. I closed my eyes and bit my lip as tears still flowed from my eyes while I tried to block out everything they were saying or explaining to the others. At every jerk of an organ, I instinctively tried to push the hands away, only for them to meet the hard metal of the ghost proof cuffs that bound me to the table, leaving me to just clench and unclench my fists. My legs would twitch the same way as well; my feet trying to move to get a good purchase on the table for me push off only to be blocked by the cuffs around my ankles. After what had seemed like a never-ending cycle of pain, a new sound cut through the air, a sound I didn't recognize, a sound that scared me. No, this new sound that had filled my ears terrified me.

"Now this, Phantom, will hurt a lot." He said, the mechanical buzzing sounding again as he finished talking. I pulled my head up, using much effort, to see him take some sort of saw with the similar greenish colored blade to my lower ribs. Before it came in contact he grinned. My tears increased as I struggled against the shackles that bound me to the table. And the pain that came shortly after. I couldn't hold back the agonizing screams as I felt the slicing of my ribs as the saw moved along its path. I smashed my head against the metal bed again, the tears hadn't let up either. The pain didn't let up, it only getting worse as continued to move up my rib-cage There was a small break in the cutting of my bones, I caught my breath as I gritted my teeth. It continued its motion and moved along my rib-cage again and I continued to scream out in the cruelty that was being inflicted on me. I barely heard the explosion that echoing throughout the room, then, the pain decreased tremendously, though there was still a painful feeling in my chest. I forced myself to turn my head as much as I could to the sound of the boom, and eventually I saw what, or rather who had caused it out of the corners of my eyes.

"H-h-help m-m-me. P-Please." I whimpered, not able to make my voice louder than a whisper. The new people in the room had gasped horror struck as to what they had just walked into.

**Dani POV**

What was I doing at this point? Well currently I'm traveling back to meet my cousin in Amity Park. After a three year trip of traveling the world, I figured it was time to relax. You wouldn't believe how easy it is to hitch rides on planes when you just invisibly phase through the luggage deck while it's taking off. I save thousands of dollars that way, plus, I just sleep until it lands, typically I have my watch set to a specific time and tada, knows one ever realizes that I was there. Currently I was landing in New York, but a short two plane ride later and the minutes of flying as ghost me, and I was in Amity Park. Only it wasn't what I expected. The place looked like a ghost town, sure the town is haunted, but it was always full of life. Right? I turned back into my human half, which looked very similar to what I used to wear. I still had my red beanie and blue sneakers, but I wore shorter red shorts, and instead of the blue sweatshirt, I had a blue jean jacket over my white tank top. I was also a little taller that I when I first met Danny, and I was probably more around 5'8" now, which was awesome, and I had filled out more. My ghost half still looked the same, I have no idea how to change that so, it stays the same for now, but it did grow with me. Thank god.

"What happened here?" I whispered to myself as I walked along the deserted streets, looking for the familiar spaceship looking thing that rested on top of Danny's house. Everything looked destroyed and broken, streets ripped apart, crumbling buildings, even some of the stoplights had been ripped out of their places. It was like this place was a ghost town, literally and figuratively.

"Dani?" Came and unexpected voice. I spun instantly, finding a familiar face, "What are you doing here?"

"Valerie? I came to see Danny," her face darkened as I said my cousins name, "What, what happened, where is everyone?" I was so confused.

Without looking at me, she responded, "They left, I was going to visit some friends of mine, you can come along, though I need to make one stop first." She sounded really sad, but why was going to meet up with then depressing?

"Sure, I'll come." I quickly caught up to here, but followed her silently, not wanting to make the situation any more awkward then it was. We arrived a floral shop and she bought a few flowers, and we were off again not really talking to each other as we moved along. I wasn't paying attention to where we were going, more thinking about how the town got this way. I ended up running into the only familiar face I had seen since I got here as she stopped.

"We're here." She said in a monotonic voice. I looked around the area, gathering my surroundings.

"Valerie, you said we were making one stop, not two. And this is a cemetery. You said we were going to see your friends, not your deceased relatives, no offence to them, but why are we-" My question was answered as she bent down, placing some flowers next to four different gravestones. I read each marker, tears welling up as each familiar name past the next:

Samantha Manson

4/23/1994 – 5/7/2008

Tucker Foley

9/3/1994 – 5/7/2008

Jasmine Fenton

6/12/1992 – 5/7/2008

Daniel Fenton

3/6/1994 – 5/7/2008

"No. They can't be…" I whispered, tears starting to pour out of my icy blue eyes. My heart clenched up as I pulled down into despair seeing the only people that I considered to be my family, were now dead. _Dead. They're all dead. What? When? How? Why?_ I sank to the floor, curling up and placing my head between my knees as I began to cry while rocking back and forth. I don't know how long I was crying before a hand rested itself against my shoulder, pulling me into a hug that I desperately clung onto as I continued my heart wretched sobbing.

"Hey, we can go now if you want." Valerie said as she continued to hold me. I pulled away to see that she was shedding a few tears as well. I couldn't really speak, so I just nodded as the twin rivers of tears continued to stream down my face. Everyone that I knew was gone. Dead. And I was out having a blast traveling the world when they could have used my help. No, when they _needed_ my help. And I wasn't there. I let Valerie lead me as she held onto my wrist, and again, I didn't pay attention to where we were going, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when we arrived at her apartment and I collapsed in her couch while she turned on the small TV in the room, turning it to the news which I tuned out for the most part.

"And breaking news!" I looked up to the television, "The notorious criminal and murder, Danny Phantom, has escaped once again from capture from the GIW facilities with the help of some new friends…" I tuned everything out as the reporter said my cousin's name, _Danny Phantom? But Danny's dead? I saw his grave, how could… Not unless he's a… no,_ my heart plummeted at the next thought, _a full ghost._

* * *

**Okay, so... I didn't put this in there, but I DON'T watch scary movies. I never have and probably never will. With that being said, if one of the titles I put up there isn't scary to you, then just insert a ghost related horror movie that is scary in your opinion and insert it in the correct above location and that is the movie the Titan's watched. If you aren't scared by any of those, well I guess your just like Danny then.**

**Moving on. The dates I used at the end are literally random numbers that I punched in. The only one that is semi-accurate is Danny's, assuming that was when he was born and it was around a month after that time that the first DP episode aired. If that makes sense. The first DP episode aired in April, so a month before would have been March. After that, it's just whatever number my finger hit first. The years though, are a little different then our current time. Why I did that I have no idea... It might have been easier to add the ages up that way, or something stupidly complicated like that... Like I said, I don't know, I just did it that way.**

**Well, with all of that being said, I hope it helps you out some how... If not, just PM me and I'll try to explain it better.**

**Until next time... Peace out cub scouts!**


	13. Reuniting Once Again

**I'm Back! I'm soo sorry for not posting this sooner but my math, biology, and chemistry teachers all decided to give me a test within the same week. My brain died and it needed to recharge. :(:::::: ****I'm sure it is safe to say that my brain needed some serious recharge. x.x **

**I swear my math and chem teachers are conspiring against me, Grrrr, because they had test planned this week too. I which again, my brain was overworked. Again. :(**

**Thanks to all that reviewed! They honestly make my day when I open my email and I see that I have a new one! :D**

**But on a happy note, I pass all three tests and got this chapter ready for you so I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

**Raven POV**

The next few weeks had been hell for everyone. We were all dreading what we would find when we rescued James, still waiting for Cyborg and Robin to find something. Anything. And the strangest thing was that James and Phantom had disappeared at the same time. It was definitely related. Robin had a theory for that though. He was thinking that James had seen the people trying to take Phantom, and because James was Phantoms friend, they took James with them as well.

Having a new _pet_ in the tower did not help our search either. Having to deal with the overgrown worm thing that ate our living room after a fight with Rancid was not appreciated. I mean why couldn't this all take place the week before James disappeared, when there was nothing going on. Oh right, because that would have been too convenient.

So now we have to spend a week searching the tower for this thing that ate all of our things as well as try to track down Johnny Rancid. Apparently, Beast Boy decided to keep one of those worm things even though Robin had said no. Of course he gave it to Starfire to watch and she let it eat her alien food, which made it grow to the size of a house. Silky, as Starfire calls him is her bumgorf… whatever that's supposed to mean, and she didn't want us to hurt it. Robin made her get rid of him, and we got called out to the city the next day to stop Rancid and his new pet, some robot dinosaur that carried lasers. Silky came to the rescue, and ate Rancid and his little friend, only he was a moth now and in the control of Killer Moth. Joy.

We did win, but it was a waste of time. Time that we needed to find James… before it's too late. My emotions were going crazy inside my head as we played this pointless waiting game. James. I was going to end up strangling them if they didn't calm down.

Cyborg actually found a visual and tracked it to a spot in Death Valley, relief had started to wash through us, and me, but not much. My emotions finally calmed down when we had a location for James, marked. Everyone was relieved, but that was just the start of the list of complications that began to get in the way. One was that we now had to get there, obviously. That would not be as easy as we had first thought. Two, this was a government base, meaning we couldn't just break in, grab James, and bust out. No, we would have to acquire clearance from the government to gain proper access into the base. That means that we need to be covered by some higher branch or a commanding officer. Then, actually getting him out is going to be the third problem. We will need a warrant, or something similar because we don't want to break the rules, but that is going to take time, and that is a luxury that we didn't have a ton of at the current moment.

It took about a month of Robin and Cyborg going in and out of the tower, both working on getting that 'green light' as they called it, so we could get James to safety. The time it took to gain that access was far longer then we wanted and Robin was frustrated with the situation even more, pacing whenever he was in the tower, weighing all the pro's and con's of our current plan of action and the outcome if we broke the rules anyway. He was in a deep turmoil over it. He had crossed that line once to be a criminal and I could tell that he didn't want to do it again. But he also knew that if we didn't do something, James was going to lose this battle since he couldn't fight it on his own, and we would lose him in the process. That was something none of us wanted either.

After several, very long days of waiting, they had gotten the clearance that we needed to put our rescue in action. It only took a month. It's not like he was being tortured or anything. When they came into the tower with the proper paperwork stating that we were allowed to break in and get him out, Star, Beast Boy, and I were all relived tenfold. Now, the hard part was going to be getting there. The T-ship was going to be out of the equation; that was for sure. We all knew it would be faster and safer if I just teleported us with my magic.

"Okay, you all know what we need to do right?" Robin briefed us for the millionth time, we all nodded. "Good, and on another note," we all groaned, "We need to keep the damage to a minimum, even if they attack back. Okay? This only covers our right to free James. No extreme force, if we go too hard, we will be held responsible."

"Robin's right, it took forever for us to get just this little exception and whatnot, we cannot push the limits on it." Cy emphasized.

"Raven, will you be able to get us inside undetected?" Robin asked, glancing over the team. _Yep, not using the T-ship._

"Yes, I'll drop us off in a fairly small section of the base, we'll have to fan out from there." Everyone nodded, determined to save our friend. I teleported us into the base with a flicker of will. We stopped just outside the base so I could get a good idea of where I wanted to place us. Once we were inside, I flew around in my soul self trying to find an empty room to land. I finally found one and pushed everyone out as I returned my soul self to me, my head exploding as pain washed over me. I clutched my head in pain, groaning.

"Raven! Are you okay?" A worried voice cut through, I severed the unexpected connection to whatever I was feeling, but I had a very bad feeling it was James. _He must be close by for it to be this bad._

"I think," I panted, "I think he's in pain. And a lot of it." I managed to get out, standing back up slowly, Cyborg helping me to my feet. Everyone looked worried and angry at the same time. We burst out of the room after I was ready and ran, or flew, down the white hallways. Alarms had started to go off as we were sprinting through the hallways, trying to find James.

"I'm picking up his vitals on my scanners, this way." Cy stated, locating James and was moving in that general direction, trying to avoid being caught. It worked for a few minutes, but we were spotted eventually. They shouted to others, who in turn, started more alarms. We passed more of the guards as we continued following Cyborg.

"Remember, harm the agents as little as possible!" Robin shouted as we ran past a group of some very stunned people in lab coats. Two guards appeared at the end of the hallway, pulling out some form of gun at the sight of us and charged.

"Hey! Stop! You're not allowed to be here!" Shouted one of the guards, Robin flipped them both weakly as we ran by, _smooth,_ only causing more alarms to blare throughout the base, and more troops started to show up, meaning that we were going to have to fight our way though to get to James.

"Defensive maneuvers only. Titan's go!" Robin ordered, charging at the white suited men, the rest of us close behind.

"Hold them off at all costs!" An agent ordered, "We can't let them reach the O wing!" Robin narrowed his eyes under his mask as he added up were James was. I was thinking the same thing. The O wing was where James was being held. We needed to get past the group of men, so I quickly took in the surrounding hallway and formulated a plan. I closed my eyes and focused my magic, creating a black portal.

"Everyone into the portal!" I ordered, moving towards the black portal on the ground. The team retreated and jump into it. I was the last to go through, closing it as I just passed the entrance. I opened the other side ten feet behind the agents, and we all popped out. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" I chanted, my black energy latching onto the ceiling, and forced it to halfway collapse. This created a wall for us, but a ramp for the agents, taking them to the floor above us.

"What?" everyone just blinked.

"Now they don't need to take the stairs." Beast Boy joked while everyone else just started at me. A bloodcurdling scream erupted from a nearby room, causing us to all stared at each other's horrified faces.

"You don't think that was…" Cy didn't finish his sentence, knowing that we were all thinking it was from the same person. We all looked at each other, fear, panic, dread, and other similar emotions coming from of my team in waves, as well as showing across their faces. I closed my eyes and focused, expanded my senses and finding four people with the emotions of curiosity and disgust towards the last figure in the room, one guy. _That has to be James. It just has to be._ I reached my touch towards him to confirm it when the scream ripped though the air again. I tried to pull back my empathetic touch, but I was too late, and the pain he was enduring was enough to cause me to scream, crumpling to the ground clutching my head. I sealed off my mind as soon I possibly could, but the pain still lingered. No, pain wasn't the right word for what he was feeling, the shear agony is what he was enduring. It was horrible. An explosion brought me back to reality. Picking myself up, I followed the rest of the team as we rushed into the room without a second thought.

I guess we should have known what O was going to stand for before we barged into the room because my heart stopped. I had no words for what I was on the other side of the door. None.

We all knew what he had gone through when he was here the last time, but it's one thing to hear what he endured and a completely different thing to actually see it happening in front of your eyes. The four people in the room had turned to us, shock masking most of their faces, ones that turned to anger as they looked over the five of us. That wasn't what I, or the rest of my team for that matter, were focused on. What we were looking at was James, and seeing _him_ strapped to an examination table, light spasms shook though his arms and legs from the pain. Other than that, he just laid there, his eyes glazing over as he used all his effort to try and look over at us. The two rivers that continued to flow full of tears, stained his face. And the blood. His blood, pooling beneath his back and splattered among the doctors, their gloves covered in it along with their garments holding a good amount as well, it was amazing that he was still conscious from all the blood loss.

"H-h-help m-m-me. P-Please." He barely uttered his heartbreaking plea, his voice cracking and dead sounding. I don't think he knew who we were; I think he was just hoping we were there to help. If a heart could break twice, at the same time, I'm sure all of ours did when one of the doctors backhanded his face, the sound of skin slapping skin and a reddening mark appearing on his right cheek from the contact, his head facing the other way from the force of the blow.

"Oh shut up, you worthless freak of nature." Growled the same doctor that hit him, giving him a glare. James didn't move after that, didn't make a sound, like he just gave up. I think we were all just in shock from seeing this monstrous act taking place.

"Someone call security." One of the other doctors called while another guy hit moved to hit a button on the wall when Robin snapped. Not saying anything, he just attacked, knocking out three of the four surgeons in one swing of his bo staff and pinning the last surgeon, the one that hit James, into the wall.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO HIM?! TO AN INNOCENT KID!" Robin was furious as he shouted at the guy, not that I cared, James was more important than him at the moment. _James!_ It was like being dumped with ice water and breaking out of our daze, we rushed to James side, still unable to comprehend what we were seeing. To see him like this, cut up like a corpse, pinned open for the world to see, there are some things that you wish you could just un-see, and this was one of those things.

"Raven, Cyborg, you know what to do, and hurry! Beast Boy! Starfire! Guard the entrance while they work." Robin ordered, throwing the unconscious doctor into the tray of tools, both clattering onto the floor. He was completely ignoring his own orders at this point, probably not caring after seeing this, and rushed over to a computer to hack into it, probably to download everything they had on James, saving it to his jump drive.

"James." I said softly as I caressed his head, turning back to me slowly and carefully, "James look at me, stay with me, don't close your eyes, look at me." I continued to try and keep his attention on me and not the pain, nodding at Cy, who had started searching for a needle and thread so he could unpin the skin and muscle to sew them back together.

"H-help. Hurts." he stuttered, whimpering slightly as he tried and failed to move his arms again. I only nodded, taking one hand off his head and used my magic to help seal up the rib bones that had been sawed in half while keeping my eyes locked on his. I could tell he was trying his hardest to keep his eyes open and on me, but he was drifting. We had to be precise when we seal him up, a slow pain-staking process at the same time. Cy was working as fast as he could, but he knew he couldn't rush for the risking the safety of James and him not making it. That was what he was afraid of, of James dying and it being his fault that he couldn't put him back together soon enough. We were all fearful of him dying at this point, and we were all outraged at what they had done to him, _again_!

"No, James, don't close your eyes! Look at me! Keep looking at me!" I shouted as I caught them fluttering again, returning my gentle grip to his head. His eyes snapped open, trying to focusing on me. I helped with the stitching, when I could, halfway healing the skin and muscle as well. Somewhere in the middle of this, the sounds of battle grew closer to the room. Troops were attacking Star and BB, trying to get into the room. The sounds of their battle were loud, but they weren't going to let anyone thru the doors, protecting their friend and us fiercely. I could feel their emotions, justified rage fuelling them as they easily beat back the never-ending white-suited soldiers. Cy had finally finished stitching him up and now needed to find gauze so we could wrap him up to help cover his wounds. Wrapping almost seemed harder than the sewing, James grunted at almost every time we had made one loop around him. It was just impossible to try and be gentler than what we were but it wasn't hard to tell he was in a lot of pain. Cy finally finished with heavy sigh, the amount of gauze we had to wrap him with made it look like he was wearing a skin tight shirt from a distance. I broke the restraints that were holding his hands and feet to the table when he spoke again.

"Th-than-nk yo-you." He softly stuttered smiling, his eyes rolling up into his head and closing slowly, as he was finally able to pull his arms to his chest. He was almost peaceful looking as he closed his eyes completely, the small smile that formed had disappearing as he went limp.

I panicked, "No, James! James!" I cried, trying to wake him up, _No! He didn't just die! He can't be dead! Not now! Not after…_I quickly placed two fingers to his neck, my heart calming down as I found a very slow but semi-steady heart beat. Cyborg was giving off the same feelings as me, but when I confirmed that he was still alive, he exhaled in relief and picked him up off the table carefully while ignoring the crimson liquid, along with the few greenish specks that sprinkled the fluid, which was coating the bottoms of his arms.

"Robin, we have to go. Now!" I motioned to Robin, who grabbed the attention of Starfire and Beast Boy as well. He unplugged his drive from the computer and called for BB and Star. BB turned instantly and ran to our side, Starfire created a massive starbolt above her head and threw it at the door before joining our group. I quickly surrounded us with my magic, the black energy taking the form of a raven as I teleported us out of the base and to safety. I just hoped we could make it back to the tower in time to get James the proper medical attention the he was going to need.

**Dani POV**

"Phantom was arrested by the GIW last month after being on the loose for two or so years when he murdered the four teens from Amity Park…" My mind was spinning from all the news, _He did what? No! He wouldn't kill them! He couldn't? He was always trying to save them? How could he…_I was now swimming in my confusion and despair as I tried to understand the situation that was being presented to me, "And this just in, it seems the people that helped Phantom escape are the famous heroes of Jump City, the Teen Titans…" _Jump City? Teen Titans? They were helping him, so they think he is innocent, right?_

"That's where I need to go. I need to know if that's true. If he really did kill his friends?" I ended with whispering the last part to myself as I started at the TV blankly. I couldn't really believe that Danny would do that. No. I didn't believe that he could do that. He would never hurt his friends. Ever. I couldn't ask Valerie because I know she wasn't too fond of Danny's ghost half. I didn't ask to her about it, because if that was all that was left, I needed to know. I had to see my cousin, soon, so it looked like I was heading out to Jump City.

I can safely say that I didn't sleep that well last night, the haunting idea that my family and most of my friends were all gone. I think I cried for most of the night, and my pillow was definitely soaked by the time the darkness of sleep took over. I think I maybe got a few hours combined throughout the night, most after I finally cried myself to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up to find myself alone in the spare room. I must have been moved into here sometime during the night by Valerie. I don't know if you could call it a spare room, but this was a rundown apartment, so I had to give it credit where credit was due. At least it _had_ a spare room; I could have been on the couch or in the same bed as Valerie. Speaking of Valerie, she wasn't in the living room or her room when I searched so she must have been out hunting a ghost. I walked back out to the living room and sat on the small couch that was there while I waited, I decided to figure out how in the world I was going to get to Jump City, I knew it wasn't going to take a day, unless I flew via airplane, but then it was finding Danny in the city. I kinda knew who the Titans were, but I didn't really pay attention to the news while I was seeing the world. And now I was regretting that decision, to not read or watch the news. The door slammed shut, announcing that Valerie had entered the apartment, and not happily by the sound of it.

"Hey, Valerie?" I called nervously, hoping she would understand that I wanted to leave the city. I was already tearing up as I tried to not to think about my _family_, but it wasn't working.

"Yeah, what's up?" She asked as she walked over to me, "Did you sleep okay?" She answered back, softly sitting down next to me on the couch. She must have noticed my saddened expression because she wrapped her arm around me in a small attempt to comfort me.

"Not really," she frowned sadly as she already knew why, "But, I wanted to thank you for letting me stay here for the night. And for moving me into the other room…" She nodded as I took a shaky breath before continuing, "It's just that I don't think I… c-can…" I broke down again, quietly crying into her shoulder. She held me as I continued to sob, rubbing my back or petting my hair that was still in my beanie, sometimes both. It was all too much, thinking that they were all dead. There was a small hope that Danny was still here, even if he was a full ghost.

"It's okay," Her voice was beginning to crack as well, "It'll be okay. Somehow. I understand why… I felt the same way when it happened," I think she was crying with me, "but if you ever need to talk, just know I'll be here to listen." She finally said after a while. I sniffled a few times before pulling my head out of her shoulder and smiled at her, glad she understood what I was trying to say. I spent the rest of the morning looking for everything that I would need when I got to California and searched for my dead cousin.

I was packed and in my ghost form, ready to leave Amity Park when Valerie handed me a piece of paper, "Here," she said, there was a seven digit number and an area code scrawled across it, "In case you need to get a hold of me. Or want to talk-"

"Thanks!" I hugged her tightly; cutting off what she was about to say next, "I'll definitely put this in a safe place." I said, backing away and placing the paper in my backpack.

"Take care of yourself now. I don't want to have to chase you down for haunting people." She teased, I just stuck my tongue out at her and we both laughed before I waved goodbye as I flew off towards an airport that would take me to California. Then I would fly myself to Jump City to find my cousin, dead or alive.

**Raven POV**

The next few days had been a nightmare after we rescued James from the agency. The news crews wouldn't leave us alone, always asking why we were aiding a murderer, or why we broke him out, ect. It was annoying, but at the same time, it made us look like the bad guys as we tried to help him, even though we were granted permission by the government to get him out. The thing is, we didn't rescue Phantom, we rescued James. Things were getting out of hand, and unless we fixed it soon, we were going to lose all the good reputation that we had earned. There were, luckily, a few true believers in Phantom, and they voiced their opinions about how they thought he was innocent and that he would never do anything to harm humans, or that he was framed and they were ecstatic that we broke him out. All their blogs were blowing up with the news along with the same things that James told us about him.

We kept tabs on him throughout the day, and he was to have one of us in there at all times, even at night. He just laid in the bed, tubes sticking out of him, hooked up to all the monitors, and an oxygen mask strapped to his face. We weren't taking any chances. It was like a repeat of when he was hit by our car. Only it was ten times worse because his wounds weren't healing like they should have. It was confusing and frustrating.

Our rage at these people increased tenfold after we saw the extent of the damage they had done to him. Robin had been combing through every single piece of information he had been able to download from their computer, and hadn't left his room unless it was to save the city, or his shift to watch over James. And even when he was watching over James, he was reading something that he had printed out, but he wouldn't tell us anything until he had all the facts straightened out. I could tell that he was frustrated and angry with the information that he did download, and that it was bad because I don't think we have ever seen him this focused and rage driven, at least not since we stopped Slade.

The alarm suddenly went off, the red flashing light illuminating the tower as we all ran to the main room. Some green dude in a very lame looking trench coat was attacking a Best Buy. We all let out a sigh of relief; at least it isn't Control Freak. The freaking couch potato was more of a fan boy than a villain if you ask me, but we knew what he could do, this guy was unknown, meaning we had to be on our guard. We all rushed to the scene, finding a giant mechanical robot suit, and it looked like it was made up of different appliances, computers, and other electronic devices. _Okay, that's new._

"A-ha, with these new gadgets, I, Technus, master of all technology and ruler of all things electronic and beeping, can now take over the world!" He shouted with a nasally voice, to the sky. Talk about shouting your plans to the heavens. I was hit with that strange feeling again, but it was radiating from the machine… _weird._

"Uhh, who's this dude?" BB asked, jerking his thumb in the robots direction with a very annoyed look on his face.

"It doesn't matter. Titans, go!" Robin ordered, pulling out his bo staff and charging the hunk of metal. In mid air, he threw three disks and landed with his staff hitting the machine on what I would call its head. Cy fired his sonic cannon after Robin had cleared, Starfire rained starbolts down on the robot as well. They stared at the machine dumbfounded because their attacks had no effect on it. Beast Boy changed into a T-rex and charged, only to stop once he was within three feet and cower away from the thing as a scared cat. _This guy is a ghost. Crap._

"What's the matter, strange child, afraid of the power of my technology?" The thing shouted in his robotic nasal sounding voice.

"Beast Boy? What's wrong?" Robin asked, noticing his sudden change in body language. Beast Boy returned his answer in the form of a howling wolf and growled at the machine. Our answer as to what we were fighting just became crystal clear to everyone, raising their caution level to a higher degree. I attacked then, using my magic to grab a nearby car and throw it at the machine man. He turned that bluish color to try to dodge the car, but it hit him anyways, knocking him to the ground. He got up and yelling some long speech about how he was going to destroy us, he pulled out a laser from his chest and fired at random towards us, hitting us with great accuracy. We all slammed into the ground, stinging from the blasts when a scream came from Cyborg. I pushed myself off the ground and saw a green cable attached to Cy's leg that was sending him volts of electricity, I could see the green sparks as they traveled down the cord and into him. His muscles jerked around for a few seconds before I could sever the cord, releasing Cyborg.

"Thanks Rae..." Cyborg panted before his eyes widened to the size of a tire, "Raven! Look out!" I turned just in time to get tangled up in a net a few seconds later, and it did the same thing to me. I could feel the energy coursing through my body, and couldn't hold back the scream that followed the pain. It suddenly stopped. I breathed heavily, figuring that the cord had been cut, but when I opened my eyes to look around, all I saw was black dirt. _What the hell?_ My vision was returned to normal as I was pulled out of the ground. _Wait? The ground? How the hell did I get in the ground?_ A new voice grabbed my attention, only to be stunned by their appearance.

"Hey, you okay?" I saw a girl, maybe fifteen or sixteen, but what took me by surprise was that she had white hair. Like white-white, the same white as Phantoms, and pulled into the same style pony tail as his too. Her eyes glowed the same toxic green color, and her face was structured the same way. Her outfit was different though. Her top was two separate colors, white down the right side adorned with a black glove. The left side of her top was black and a while glove on that hand. On her chest and just below the neck line was that D symbol I've seen in that vision from James's first freak out. Only this one was white instead of black. The black and white met to the right side of her top, and cut diagonally downward, with more white on the bottom of the shirt. The shirt cut off around her toned stomach and her pants began just below her navel. There were also black, but baggy like. Almost like they were sweat pants that were too big for her. There was a thin white strip that started at her hips on both sides and widened down to her white boots that were hidden underneath her pants.

"Hey can you hear me?" she asked again, more concern in her tone this time. I nodded as I looked back to the new girl. I then realized that she was giving me the same vibe that Phantom did, like the exact same vibe, the one that was dead but not dead at the same time. She looked like the female version of Phantom.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." I said in my monotonic voice, looking at the relief as it washed through her eyes. _God she could be Phantom's twin._

"A-ha," she rolled her eyes out of annoyance at the sound of his voice, "You cannot defeat me! For I am Technus, Master of technology and ruler of-" the other ghost started.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." She said, rolling her eyes while she used her right hand moved in a blah-blah gesture, "You know Technus, you should really stop shouting out what you're planning to do and such. It gets annoying." Her left hand glowed the familiar greenish color and she fired a blast at the robot, hitting him square in the chest and knocking him to the ground in one hit. _Damn. She's powerful._ She was just getting started as she floated up into the air and flew across the street and into the robot, pulling out a man with green skin, white hair, a black buttoned up trench coat like thing, and a white cape. He had black rectangles covering his eyes which I guessed were suppose to be sunglasses. He had black boots white what looked like three inch heels? And green gloves, not that it mattered, his skin was green so the green didn't really help. _Do all ghosts use the black, green, and white color scheme? Geeze, they need to get more original._ She picked him off the ground by his shirt and stared into his eyes with a very evil glare.

"You know, Techy, I'm just going to get to the point. I'm looking for my cousin, and I'm not in a good mood. So you have two choices. One," she lifted up one finger, "You can go back to the ghost zone quickly and quietly, or two," she lifted up a second finger, "I'll waste you. And unlike the last time we met, I can actually do that. Your choice." She finished with a growl. _Wow, she's just like Phantom. They have to be twins._ Technus, as he called himself took choice one, obviously thinking that she could follow through on her threat, and flew away. She landed on the ground and chuckled to herself.

"Whoa…" Was all Cyborg had to say as he stared at her.

"Dude, déjà vu!" BB exclaimed, "Didn't Phantom do the same thing to the robot hunter guy?"

The new ghost stopped laughing and stared at the changeling, a serious look on her face. She flew straight at BB who yelped as she landed in front of him, "You said my cousin's name. Where is he?"

"How would we know where- Wait. Did you say that Phantom is your cousin? Anyone else confused?" Cy said, scratching his head. She crossed her arms and frowned.

"What. Us ghost's can't have family?" she said in a threatening tone, uncrossing her arms and placing her hands on her hips while tapping her foot impatiently.

"Uhh…"

"So… Who are-" Robin started, walking towards the new girl, only for Starfire to cut him off.

"Please? What's-your-name? What-is your-favorite-color? How-did-you-get-here? Where-are-you-from? And-do-you-wish-to-be-my-friend?" Star asked her usual questions to anyone new.

"Uhh, what?" The girl raised an eyebrow. Star just tilted her head in confusion.

"She wants to know your name, your favorite color, where you are from, how you got here, and if you will be her friend." Robin explained for her.

"Ohhh, got it. Well my favorite color is either red or blue, I flew here, I came from… uhh, Amity Park I guess, and sure. I'll be your friend. I don't think I forgot anything…" she stood there, thinking, "Oh, haha! Duh, I forgot my name. It's Dani, Dani Phantom." We all just stared at her. _Her name is Dani Phantom? Is she serious?_

"Oh, glorious. Hello new friend!" Star exclaimed, pulling Dani into a bone crushing hug. Dani turned blue and phased out of Star's arms, leaving Starfire slightly confused.

"Whoa. Your strong." She said, panting a little. The comment caused Star to blush a little.

"So… you know Phantom?" Robin asked, trying to get the conversation back on topic. She popped up to her full height, which was sadly, taller than Beast Boy and almost taller that Robin.

"Do I know Danny?" She started laughing, "Of course I know Danny! How could I not know him?" Now we were all very confused.

"Umm, but your name is Dani..." BB tried to straighten out.

"What? Oh. No, my name is Dani. With an I. His is Danny. With a Y. His name is Danny Phantom as well. I know it's confusing, trust me." She explained. _They have the same freaking name. Are you kidding me?_

"Dude! My brain hurts now!" Beast Boy whined, clutching his head trying to grasp the idea that there are two Phantom's, and that they literally have the same name. We all just stared at her, again.

"And speaking of Danny, I heard on the news that you had rescued him from the Guys in White. Where is he? I really need to talk to him." She looked really worried and hoping that he wasn't dead? _Wait what? Phantom is dead, that's why he is a ghost. That's why she is a ghost. They are ghosts, that means they are dead. Right?_ Then another thought dawned on me, _I can sense her emotions? WTF! What is going on?_

"We never rescued Phantom. We rescued our friend James. If these guys in white are who captured him, then they would still have him right?" Cy explained, Dani's eyes narrowed and she didn't look convinced.

"Who the hell is James?" She asked.

"Like I said, he is our friend that was kidnapped, and-" Cy started again, only this time Robin cut him off.

"Maybe you should come back to the tower with us. We shouldn't talk about this stuff out in the open." Robin explained, checking out the surroundings. Dani followed his eyes, then nodded in agreement. We all headed back to the tower and into the main room. Well all of us but Cyborg, he went straight to the med wing to check on James.

"Hey, where did the robo guy go?" Dani asked, noticing that Cy wasn't with us.

"He left to go check up on James. He isn't in the best condition at the moment, otherwise he would have helped us with the mission." Robin explained. Dani frowned, looking back to the metal doors.

"If this James guy gets better, will I get to meet him?" Dani asked curiously.

"Uh, sure..." Robin answered, "Now, you said you wanted to know about Phantom-"

"Danny. His name is Danny." She corrected.

"Right. Danny. Well, it's just that we have only seen _Danny_ a total of three times in person. James says that he is friends with Phantom, but-"

"Danny has a friend named James?" She mumbled to herself as she became lost with thought, her eyes widened shortly with realization. But what did she just realize was the question.

"Dude, can you like, dim yourself down? Your driving my animal instincts up the wall!" Beast Boy whined as he sat on the farthest part of the couch from her.

"Animal instincts…" She looked puzzled for a second, then smiled, "Oh dude," we all raised an eyebrow while BB just beamed at the fact that she called him dude, "That's my bad, I should have realized that it would have made you uncomfortable. I'm so used to the ghost animals that I forget that real animals don't like me."

"Yeah, well just try to keep it down just a little…" Beast Boy sat up straighter, though he was still eyeing her warily.

"Sure!" She beamed, "I'll fix it for you." She jumped up as if she was going to use the couch as a trampoline. Once she was over the couch, she crossed her arms, then an icy blue ring suddenly appeared around her waist and split into two separate rings. One traveled up to her head while the other dropped down to her feet. As they finished their paths, she fell onto the couch, bouncing a little as she landed. But that wasn't the mind blowing part. No the mind blowing part was that she looked completely different, she was now wearing a blue jean jacket, a white tank-top. She also had blue sneakers and red jean shorts with a red beanie to complete the look. Her hair was black as onyx, and she had the exact same ice blue eyes as James. She felt alive too.

We were all gaping, and for Robin, Starfire, and Beast Boy, jaws on the floor. I will admit that my jaw dropped as well, but not as far as theirs had. She had changed her looks and energy level within a second, and she acted like it was completely normal.

"Better?" She asked, then noticing our reactions and stunned expressions, "What?"

"You… Just… But… How?" Beast Boy choked, not fully understanding, Robin was doing the same thing.

"What? I thought with you all being super heroes, that you would deal with the weird every day. But you're looking like you have never seen a hybrid before." She commented as if it should have been obvious, her arms moving in there correct gestures. Like she thought we were the clueless ones in the room.

"Hybrid?" Robin questioned, not full understanding as he began to think. I knew what she was talking about, being one myself, but it wasn't possible. A ghost and human hybrid, it's an impossibility. You can't be dead and alive at the same time, yet she is living proof.

"Yeah. You know, like the offspring form two different species…" She was trying to hint to us. What was she trying to hint at us, that she has one ghost parent and one human parent? "Like a liger. You know, the cub of a tiger and a lion."

"But your saying that you have one parent that's a ghost," Robin started, placing his right hand out, "And one that is human," placing his left out respectively as he looked like he was weighing something, "That doesn't work."

"Yeah, well, I exist. So deal with it." Robin, though still confused, looked as if he was slowly beginning to process the newly acquired information but also about something else as well.

"Deal with what?" Cyborg asked as he walked into the room, not understanding why we were all flabbergasted. He then spotted the girl on the couch, "Who is she? And where did Dani go?"

"She's right there." BB said, still in shock pointing to the human on the couch. Dani turned around on the couch, her left arm hanging onto the back of the couch while her right hand moved as she spoke.

"Hey, could you explain to them that I'm not the weirdest thing they have ever seen. You know, being a hybrid and all." She explained to Cyborg as if he had been in the room the whole time, and who was now looking at her with the same look as the rest of us.

"Hybrid?" Cy whispered, trying to make sense of the info presented to him. She nodded slowly with a serious look on her face, "But ghosts… are dead, and… you're… alive?" he slowly stated while she face palmed.

"Right… you weren't in the room for the demonstration. So maybe the term hybrid is too complicated for you…" Dani mumbled to no one in particular, confusing him even more. You would think this was an easy topic to understand, I mean I'm half demon but as I said before, she defied everything that was possible.

"So Cyborg," Robin started, trying to change the topic, "How was James doing?" Everyone perked up at our friend's name.

"He's doing fine, though he is still healing slower than usual but-" Cy's arm beeped with an update, "Actually, he just woke up. We should probably…"

"I agree." Robin stated, "But I'll go talk to him alone. There are some things I need to discuss with him in private. The rest of you, watch her." He finished, pointing to the ghost-human girl on the couch.

"Wait, we all can't go. Dude! That's so unfair!" Beast Boy started to whine; Robin shot him a glare before walking out of the room, leaving us alone with the girl.

"So… Dani..." I started, gaining her attention as she turned back around to face me, smiling. This was going to be a very long and confusing discussion, and I'm sure there are secrets that will blow our minds even further.

Joy.

**Danny POV**

I groaned as I slowly moved into consciousness. My body was sore all over, my head was fuzzy, and it hurt to just breathe. _What happened?_ I tried to think back to my last conscious thought, but was failing. There was a slow and familiar beeping to my right, and something was strapped to my face. I cracked my eyes open, expecting a blinding white light to bombard my sight, but didn't find any. Just a dark ceiling and a faint glow coming from the hospital equipment on my right. I looked over to see a heart rate monitor and a cord for an _oxygen mask? Well that explains what's strapped to my face… Wait, the GIW never hook me up to these? Where the hell am I?_ I started to panic, causing the beeping to increase.

"James? Hey, calm down. Your safe." I heard a raspy voice call out. A boy's rasp. A very familiar boy rasp. And close by. I scanned the room for the sound of the voice to find the colorful uniform of the Boy Wonder himself. I blinked a few times, trying to get rid of this hallucination.

"Robin?" I asked weakly, scrunching up my face for a second then let it relax.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" He asked calmly, almost too calm, meaning something was up. _Well great. Maybe I am hallucinating._

"Sore." I replied, "and trying to figure out where I am."

"Titan's tower. The med bay more specifically. We found you in their base and broke you out. You've been here for a few days." He explained in a neutral tone, though his face was one of slight rage. I felt the nerves calm down as I started to believe that I wasn't in _their care_ anymore.

"So I'm safe?" I asked, he nodded, "Thanks."

"Do you remember what happened? What they did to you while you were there?" He asked, though his tone made it seem like he already knew those answer. _So he is going to question me. Yay._

"Painful. Really painful. Though when is torture not painful. That's not what you wanted though, huh?" I shut my eyes as I tried to remember something, anything. _Bright lights. Broken bones. Being cut. A whip. More bright lights. A scalpel._ My breathing hitched as I opened my eyes in horror. I looked over to Robin, my hands moving themselves to my chest, finding it dry and with cotton tightly wrapped around it.

"Yeah, we found you in the middle of one when we got there. Cyborg and Raven stitched you up." He explained, noticing my panic, "Though we have been worried about your healing process. Why hasn't healed up, like last time you were in here?" He asked in that same tone again, I cringing slightly as he brought up that topic again. Then I remembered everything. The pain, the beatings, the whip, I shuddered at that last one. _Ectoranium. That's why I haven't healed. But I can't tell him that._

"It's… I…" I stuttered, trying to think of an excuse because I wasn't sure how to tell him the truth. I moved my gaze away from him, he raised an eyebrow when I couldn't produce an answer for him.

"It was the ectoranium in the blades right?" He stated as if it was nothing. I'm sure my face was sporting utter shock and terror.

"How… Where… When…" I stuttered, my heart rate speeding up as I began to conclude that he knew my secret. I took a deep breath, trying to cam my nerves as he spoke again.

"I hacked into their computers. I know everything, _Danny._ Even about your Phantom half." I paled considerably as my eyes bulged, "Why didn't you tell us? We could have helped you much sooner and this would never have happened." He spoke, he was hurt, yet it was like he was completely cool with the thought of me being a ghost-human hybrid. I sighed in defeat as I hung my head in shame, only to be rewarded with a sharp sting in my back. I instantly pulled my head up as I hissed. I remembered how I got that too. The whipping. I looked over to Robin, he seemed to know why I was hissing and was reaching for some pain killers, his back to me. I continued to stare forward, trying to keep myself calm even though he knew who I really was and all my darkest secrets.

"So…" I started hesitantly, "How much do you know?"

"I know that your real name is Danny, and that you are also Phantom. Though I still don't know how that's even possible, however, you being Phantom explains why your body is at a lower temperature and why you have a slower heart beat," He answered nonchalantly, "but it also means you also never lost your powers." He semi-growled the last bit. I flinched, _I knew that was going to come back and bite me in the butt._

"Anything else?"

"Yes." He answered, turning to me, "I know that you are not guilty of the charges that are being pressed against you, along with that fact that you were considered a hero in our home town of Amity Park."

"You know all of that?" I asked in awe, but I was also worried. How did he learn all of that... _Wow, this is Robin. He is like a skilled detective, how could I even doubt that he wouldn't know it..._

"I also know almost everything that they did to you while you were in their custody. I wasn't able to download everything, but I do have enough evidence to get you placed under the protection of the meta-human acts," I looked at him curiously, "meaning that if they ever try to touch you again, they will go to jail for a very long time."

I half-heartedly smiled, "Yeah, but I'm also included in the anti-ecto laws. Meaning they can do whatever they want with me." I stated sorrowfully. I knew this wasn't going to help, no matter what they did, I was still apart of those laws. Robin frowned at my tone, apparently he didn't like the fact that I had given up. Or what seemed like giving up to him.

"What they did to you is inhuman, and last time I checked, you are still human." I glared at him weakly, "or at least partly human, which means you have _human_ rights as well."

I snorted, "Right… It hasn't stopped them before, so why would it stop them now?" _Wow I sound like a jackass. Ehh, whatever._

"Well, we will make sure they leave you alone." That got my attention. Or rather, the _'we'_ part did. I had completely forgotten about the rest of his team. If I wasn't panicking before, I was now and the machine had picked it up. Thoughts were racing through my mind at a mile a minute, _how could I have forgotten about them? What do they know? Do they know? Do they hate me? They probably will. I mean I lied to them about who I am and… Raven! She already got hurt from that dragon because he lied to her, and I've done the same thing. God I'm an idiot._

"Danny? Danny! Calm down. Everything is alright. You're going-" Robin started. That's when everything came crashing down. I started having a freak attack as I became lost in my thoughts. My breathing hitched as it increased, it felt like I was suffocating. My vision was blurry, and everything what moving around in the room as if I was I dizzy. I could hear my name, but it was faint for a few seconds before it all snapped back into clarity. I could see Robin with some sort of object in his hands and he was moving towards me, fast. I focused on the object, which turned out to be a needle. My eyes widened in alarm. _No! I'm not going under again!_ Robin had grabbed my arm and was about to puncture my skin with the metal tip when I struck back. I don't remember what I did, but Robin was flying into the wall on the other side of the room. I went intangible and phased all the medical equipment off or out of me. The machines started frantically beeping, or the heart machine just let out one long beep, thinking that my heart had stopped. _I knew it! I knew this was too good to be true. I knew it. They still have me, and are feeding me some bull crap of a hallucination causing drug, just because they like to toy with me!_ Now I was mad. I turned to the Boy Wonder as he was picking himself up off the ground.

"Danny, you need to calm down. Everything will be alright, just-" He started to say in a calm tone, his hands up in a surrendering position.

"No! Don't tell me everything is alright! Everything is not alright! It's a lie! It always is! You thought I was going to fall for it again, but your wrong. " I shouted angrily, I could feel the blood rising in my face and hear it pounding in my ears. Robin took a step back as the familiar greenish glow emitted from my hands.

"Danny?" Robin asked warily taking another step back, "Think about this, you don't want to do this." I'm pretty sure I was losing my mind now but I paid no attention to that as I continued my advance on this fake Robin. I raised my right hand and fired at the teen. It hit square in his chest causing him to collapse silently. There was a loud gasp to my left. I turned my head to the door, and the five new intruders. The room was dark, but I enhanced my eye sight, causing them to glow their familiar toxic green. I was able to clearly see their stunned faces, but I didn't care. I raised my other hand in their direction, charging a larger ball of ecto-energy, then fired. I growled as it collided with a green dome shield.

_Wait… Green dome? Danielle?_ The ectoplasmic energy died in my hands as I slowly lowered my arm. I straightened up while turning slightly in their direction, scanning for her underneath the dome. I was still searching when a something hit me from behind and pinned me to the floor. Tremendous pain shot though my back and brought me back into reality, and I couldn't help but let out a loud yelp. It was cut off when I was forced to go down face first into the floor and shooting more pain through my body. It was like I was suffocating again, but the pain didn't go away, and now my chest was burning. I closed my eyes tightly when bright lights were turned on. I listened to the shouting in the room around me, trying to figure out what was going on and ignore the pain. _Pain. I was never in pain when they messed with my mind like this... Oh god. What have I done?_

"No! Beast Boy, let him up! He didn't mean it!" Said a weak sounding voice, and also sounded closer then it should have been.

"Oh shit. He's bleeding. Rob, we're going to need to change those again. Raven, you're going to have to help heal this." A much deeper voice sounded, very worried sounding as well.

"I'm not going crazy right? He was shooting green energy. Green! Since when could he do that?!" A high squeaky voice sounded, like a young teenage boy squeaky.

"Robin, you are okay? Yes?" That was Starfire, no one else talks like that.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But he needs to help now." I assumed that it was Robin who was speaking now. I was floating, and then set carefully down on a bed. There was a snipping sound as the gauze was cut from my torso. My back still hurt, and I could feel the wetness that was leaking into the fabric from my back. There was a collection of gasps as the white wrap was fully removed from my frame.

"Robin, grab the antiseptic. We need to disinfect this." The deep voice sounded again, though I could place it as Cyborg now. My eyes flew open as the cold liquid was placed against my back, the stinging unimaginable against all my open sores. I'm sure I gasped in shock from the sudden stinging from the cleansing medicine.

"How did he get- What did they-" Someone was choked up about something, though the tone seemed dull and familiar… Raven maybe?

"Gruesome, huh. I'll explain later, right now you need to use your magic and try to heal some of these up Raven. They haven't healed since he got here." Robin stated dejectedly. There was another round of gasps, and a few seconds later I was staring into the sad eyes of a green kitten. _Beast Boy?_ I tried to smile, as if to say I was okay, but it was like I was frozen and nothing was responding to my command so my lip just quivered instead. A cooling sensation spread across my back for a few seconds, and the pain diminished all together allowing me to sign in relief.

"Yo, BB? How are his stitches? None are ripped are they?" Cyborg asked the green kitten, "Never mind, I'll just check them myself."

The cybernetic teen's footsteps could be heard as they clunked against the ground as he walked around the bed, eventually coming into my view. I still couldn't move, even if the pain was gone, "Their fine. Robin, hand me the gauze. We need to re-wrap him now, and hope he doesn't get hurt again." I squeezed my eyes shut as the white cotton was ripped and wrapped around my torso, covering all my apparent injuries. It seemed like forever before they were done. Then everything got really loud really fast. Mostly everyone yelling at Robin about me. I groaned as it was starting to give me a headache. It got deathly quiet at my sound, and I was suddenly lifted and placed on a different bed. Well the bed I was on before everything else happened. I was able to see everyone as they stared at me. That's when I noticed that there were six people in the room, not five. I stared at the unfamiliar person, but she was familiar to me, I just couldn't put my finger on it. Her blue eyes pierced mine as they started to tear up.

"Danielle?" I whispered, suddenly remembering the green dome shield that was used to protect everyone I attacked. Her eyes widened at the sound of her full name, and even wider with recognition.

"Danny." She mouthed silently, then a little louder, "You're alive?" before she shouted, "Danny!" and jumped on me while I sat in the bed, burying her head into my shoulder as she began to cry, confusing me and most of the other people in the room.

* * *

**Okay. What do you think will happen next? Not what you expected, or better then you expected? Let me know, or ask via PM.**

**On another note, updates are not going to be scheduled every week like they have been, and probable wont be on Wednesdays either. School is just kicking my butt. But I'll try to get them out when I can.**

**So, I guess I'll see you all when I can get the next one done.**


	14. The Truth Comes Out

**OH MY GOD! I'm soooo sorry for dropping off the map for like two months! I feel horrible for doing that to you guys! I just got so busy with golf practice and tournaments, work, homework, midterms, and normal tests. I am convinced that all my teachers are plotting against me because all my midterms were on the same freaking day! Taekwondo practice, teaching TKD classes, TDK testings, and one TDK tournament also stole my time. Then again, having my second degree black belt means that I practically live there as well as the golf course and school. That and wrote and rewrote this chapter like five times before it was some what acceptable. Then with all the said stuff above, I had no time to edit this chapter, or on the rare occasions that I did have time, I was too frazzled to just sit and type with out it turning out crappy. And I know a crappy chapter was not going to be something any of us want.**

**But I finally got it done. I was thinking about putting up an authors note to explain all of this, but I didn't want to get all you hopes up thinking there was a new chapter and it turned out to just be me saying why there was no chapter. That's not cool beans with me.**

**I can say for sure that I have started writing the next chapter, and school is out in two or three weeks, Thank the Lord! You will have a much shorter wait for that chapter, that is something I can guarantee.**

**But enough with my ranting, go read the next chapter, I know you all have been dying in anticipation waiting for this to come out. :D**

* * *

**Chapter 14**

**Raven POV**

"So… Dani..." I started, gaining her attention as she turned back around to face me, smiling. This was going to be a very long and confusing discussion, and I'm sure there are secrets that will blow our minds even further.

Joy.

"Yes?" She answered, the large grin still plastered to her face. God she looked like Phantom's… uh, Danny's twin. _Oh this won't get confusing._ The silence in the room held for a few more seconds before Cyborg decided to break it.

"You said you know Phantom-" He started.

"Danny." She frowned, correcting us yet again.

"Phantom. Danny. It's the same person." She rolled her eyes with a scowl on her face as Cy continued, "You said he was your cousin, but honestly, you two look more closely related than that, like siblings. More like twins to be exact."

"Well... Yeah probably." She seemed to be in a fake form for thought, "But I've always gone with cousins because it's better than our actual relationship." She shuddered at the thought. I was wondering how it could be bad. "And way nicer than the actual term." She shuddered again.

"Term?" Beast Boy asked. I couldn't say I wasn't curious, and I'm positive the rest of the team was just as curious as me. She looked up at the changeling, her icy blue eyes meeting his forest green ones with a hateful glare.

"I'm not going to say it. I don't like being called something that shouldn't exist, though I guess, technically speaking, I don't and probably shouldn't exist either... Not like that really matters, I'm here now so..." She responded, her hate was filling the room at her vague statement. _What could she possibly refer to that has this much hate behind it?_

"Then, why refer to it if you don't want to say it?" I challenged her. Her glare moved over to mine, our eyes searching the others for a sign of weakness.

"Look, it doesn't matter at the current time. I just want to find my cousin, and hope that he's okay. Alive, preferably, even if I've already been to his gravestone." She mumbled the last part, looking down to the ground. _Gravestone? He's dead? But wasn't he already dead?_

"But, Phantom-" she glared back at Beast Boy, "Sorry, Danny. Isn't he already dead. I mean he is a ghost right. Doesn't that mean he's dead?"

"I'm a ghost, but I'm not dead. Just half dead, and so is he. Hopefully." She explained, crossing her arms.

"Wait, wait, wait! Your telling me that Phan- Danny, is a half ghost too?" She nodded, "Just like you?" Cy was confused, we all were. _Okay, so not only she is this hybrid, but so is her cousin? This day couldn't get any weirder._

"Do you have a computer?" She asked out of nowhere as she sat up straighter on the couch, uncrossing her arms. _That's not random at all..._

"Yeah? Why?" Cy asked, baffled and probably thinking along the same lines as me.

"I just have to show you. You wouldn't believe me otherwise, as if your reactions to me are any indication." She said in a low voice as she stretched. Cy pointed to the main one in the room, and pulled out the keyboard for her. She got up off the couch and walked over to the screen, opening up the internet, typing in the name Danny Phantom.

"We already know what he looks like." Beast Boy said as she hit enter, pulling up images of Phantom. Or rather, very different pictures of Phantom. These showed a boy about fourteen, and in a black hazamat suit, fitted with white collar, gloves, boots, and belt. He also had a P inside of a white D symbol on his chest, the same emblem that the girl hybrid had on her outfit. He did have white hair, and toxic green eyes. Okay, if the Phantom we have met a few times isn't her brother, then this Phantom could be. Plus he looked to be around her age, fourteen, maybe fifteen. If there was one thing I could say for sure, it was that this fourteen year old Phantom and the one we have met a few times look very similar. _Almost as if they were the same person..._

"Yeah, but you need to see the side by side comparison of his human form and ghost form to understand." She explained, pulling up a different window and doing the same thing, only entering a different 'last' name. Danny Fenton. _That's the kid that was "murdered" by Phantom. _I was astonished as how similar the two boys looked. And while the Fenton kid had hair as black as oil and in the same shaggy hair style, along with his slim and lanky like frame, and the most stunning crystal blue eyes, Danny 'Phantom' was exactly the same, just with switched color schemes. I kept coming back to Fenton's eyes, I couldn't place it but I knew they were familiar and the answer was at the tip of my tongue.

Then, I understood.

Phantom and Fenton _were_ the same person. _Holy crap. Phantom never killed those kids. He couldn't. They were his family and friends. James was telling the truth, Phantom is being framed for those murders._

"No way. That's not possible." Cyborg whispered, as if the proof of the two pictures wasn't enough evidence. We were all shocked that Phantom was the hybrid she was talking about. _He had to be a hybrid at the time of the murders, because he couldn't kill himself, come back as a ghost, kill the other three, and then kill himself again. The only way that story would have worked is if Fenton and Phantom were two separate people. And they're not._ I looked more closely, I could see similarities between this fourteen year old kid and the mental image of the older looking Phantom we met the other month. Now that I think about it, I was beginning to suspect that the two Phantom's were the same person, just older.

"Told ya." She simply stated, backing away from the screen proudly while also interrupting my train of thought. I shook my head in annoyance before turning to Cyborg.

"Cyborg." I called.

"Huh?"

"Did you record our most recent meeting with... Danny." I corrected myself, earning an appreciative smile from Dani. Cy nodded, understanding what I was getting at and plugged in a memory chip containing that fight with the hunter ghost. We all watched as Cyborg pulled up his recorded video of the fight, and when Phantom appeared, the ghost hybrid in the room with us gasped while paling considerably at the sight of the hooded figure.

"What is troubling you, friend?" Starfire asked the scared ghost girl. Everyone had noticed her shaking frame. _It couldn't be from the picture? But if it was... Why would she be afraid?_

"That's. Not. Danny." She whispered, completely terrified at the video. As if she knew who he was. "That's… That's The R.O.G.U.E." Cyborg paused the video after she said his name, and we all turned to face her. _Isn't that what the robotic hunter called him?_ I was now second guessing my thoughts on this figure in screen. _But wait, the ghost hunter was only afraid of this Phantom after he found out that Phantom, or Danny, was R.O.G.U.E._

"Why is everyone afraid of him?" Beast Boy grumbled to himself, "His outfit looks bad ass my opinion..." As Beast Boy went on about his outfit yet again. He obviously didn't get it.

"Only ghosts fear him," her quivering voice cut him off, "and every ghost has heard the rumors about him. He's been around for a very long time. For thousands of years, and he is very powerful." She was still trembling as she finished speaking in a quiet mouse like tone.

"Okay, why does he call himself that?" Cyborg asked, not really believing her.

"It's an acronym." She whispered even quieter.

"What is an acronym?" _Of course Beast Boy wouldn't know what it is._ I practically rolled my eyes at his comment.

"It's when each letter in a word stands for something, for example ASAP or TGIF." I grouched.

"Oh, that's what those are. Cool!" He was thrilled with this new idea. Again, it went right over his head. _Idiot._

I glared at him for a second then turning to Dani, "What does his name stand for?"

"It… It stands for… The Reaper Of Ghostly Undead Entities." She stuttered, struggling to get the words out. The word that caught my attention was reaper. _He's a reaper. But only ghosts were afraid of him, so that means he only hunts ghosts. His own kind._ Cy seemed to be listening, I turned back to him to see that he was busy with a facial scan. One with the hybrid ghost boy and this Reaper guy. When a 100% match popped up on the screen with a ding, my suspicion was confirmed. Dani was at the screen faster than lightning, while her face light up as she tried to take in what she was seeing.

"Okay. Now I'm confused." Beast Boy grumbled_._

"Danny's… R.O.G.U.E.?" She was having a hard time processing the pictures, the confusion and then despair spreading through her, "So, he really is dead." You could easily hear the sad pain in her voice as she reached the conclusion, her face darkening as she spoke. The room's mood darkened at that statement, I could feel the heartbreak and despair from everyone, none of us could imagine what she was now going through. To have that small spark of hope of finding your only living family, that small flame of hope to just be stomped out the way hers was. It was cut short when Cy's arm beeped.

"What the hell is Robin-" We all looked over to Cyborg, confused as he started to play with it, only frowning at whatever was on it.

"What's wrong?" Beast Boy asked.

"James's heart rate just shot up along with his blood pressure and..." he trailed off as he continued to watch the screen on his arm, fiddling with it as he scanned through the different vital signs. However, as important as that was, it left all of us wondering what hell was going on. _What could be going on that is causing all of this to occur? He wasn't in another episode right? No. No, Robin would have called us. _I was easing myself out of that thought when Cyborg's eyes suddenly went wide as his arm beeped again.

"It. Just. Stopped." he raced out of the room dread seeping though him while we were left with nothing to go by other than something was wrong. Very wrong. _What just stopped? _I pondered this for a second before the truth sunk in._ His heart stopped?!_ I knew the rest of the team realized this as well because we followed Cyborg urgently. Beast Boy was behind all of us as he dragged the ghost girl with him because, technically, we couldn't leave her alone in the tower, Robin would have all our heads for that. Everyone was filled with dread as we moved quickly along the small hallways to the med bay doors, the tension and fear building with each passing second.

"Danny?" We heard Robin though the slowly opening doors. _Danny? Where is James?_ "Think about this, you don't want to do this." The doors opened to reveal a sight that was one that gave more questions than answers.

I scanned the room, looking over everything within a second. The empty bed, the frantic machines and their alarms going off, trying to alert us that there was a serious situation, and lastly the two figures in the room. Standing in front of Robin was James, but he was different from everything we thought we knew, he was in an aggressive stance, and a greenish type of energy was glowing in his hands, and one was aimed right at Robin's chest. I didn't have any time to ponder the green glow as he had fired, hitting its mark and causing Robin to fall to the ground. We all gasped, or in Starfire's case, a small scream. His head turned sharply to us. Because of the darkness room, I couldn't see his eyes, but I assumed that he was in an episode, which was why he attacked Robin. I was about to stepped forward and try to calm him down like I somehow managed to last time, only for him to surprise us even more. His eyes suddenly began to glow the same green that was in his hands. I was able to see that his eyes were completely normal, apart from their toxic glow, there was no dilation or contraction of the pupils. _So, he's in control of his actions?_ That raised more red flags, but with no time to act as he raised the other energy charged hand which illuminated his face in the process, and fired at us. I didn't have time to think about putting up a shield as we were surrounded by a green dome. _I'll have to thank this girl later._ I glanced around at everyone under the shield, and realized that BB wasn't with us.

A small scuffle and strangled yelp sounded over the still blaring alarms. As the shield came down, we saw Beast Boy pinning James to the ground, and pushing him farther into the hard floor. He must have thought James was in another episode, which is why he attacked. Not that I could blame Beast Boy for his aggression, I mean James almost strangled him to death last time. But this wasn't like last time.

"No! Beast Boy, let him up! He didn't mean it!" Robin weakly shouted. That's when I heard Cy's sharp intake of air, and following his gaze, I too gasped at the sight. The once white gauze on James was starting to turn a crimson color underneath Beast Boy's elbow. And it was quickly spreading.

"Oh shit. He's bleeding." Cyborg spoke, he was worried about it too, but why, "Rob, we're going to need to change those again. Raven, you're going to have to help heal this." He finished, and I was struck with wonder as to why his back was such an issue. Sure we didn't know everything that they did to him, but apparently Cyborg and Robin did because they were both sporting a deep look of concern while pulling Beast Boy off the broken teen. Beast Boy, and the rest of us could only imagine what type of wound was hiding under the crimson soaked gauze. Robin and Cyborg were kneeling beside James, trying to figure out how to get him up to the bed.

"I'm not going crazy right? He was shooting green energy. Green! Since when could he do that?!"Beast Boy exclaimed suddenly, trying to understand what he saw and how it was even possible. I was also wondering the same thing; however, pieces were starting to fit together for me. I know I didn't have all of the facts, and definitely not enough to make a solid conclusion. But the coincidences were too similar, I will admit that.

"Robin, you are okay? Yes?" Starfire was concerned for Robin, that was obvious, but why ask now, why not when he was hit? Then again, this was Starfire, so I wasn't going to think on it too much. I was needed to help James, so that's what I'm going to do.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But he needs to help now." Blunt, but to the point was Robin's response. He was focused on James and his newly acquired injuries. There was something underneath the cover of his wrappings, and I could tell by his urgency to fix it, that it wasn't pretty. Robin seemed almost angry that this was reopened, and Cyborg was feeling the same way. _What could be worse then the dissection he went through? The one we walked in on?_ I watched as they began to cut the gauze off, Cy yelled to Robin to grab the antiseptic. As the last of the bandages were removed, I expected to find few long gashes, but not this. I was mortified at the sight of his back.

I felt like gagging, not from the blood but rather from where the blood was coming from. It literally looked like someone had gone knife happy on his back from how tightly packed the welts and open sores that decorated his back. These gashes covered almost every inch of his back, and he has a long torso. I studied the hundreds of wounds only to understand that it was from a whip. Then another, more disheartening thought invaded my mind as the weapon that would have caused this type of strike, this type of wound.

And it suddenly clicked.

_A whip. That's what caused this._ _All of these are from a whip. _The thought of him being whipped like this... I couldn't process it. So I watched, unable to move for a few seconds, my rage bubbling to the surface as Cy and Robin dabbed rags in the antiseptic and placed it against his back. The smell of the hydrogen-peroxide filled the room quickly because of the amount the two boys needed to use. His intake of air hitched as the solution was rubbed against his raw back.

"How did he get- What did they-" I wasn't really able to get my question out, I was too distraught over the sight. _How could anyone do this to someone? To a kid? It's no wonder he is insane?_

"Gruesome, huh." _Gruesome? Try inhuman!_ "I'll explain later, right now you need to use your magic and try to heal some of these up Raven. They haven't healed since he got here." Robin stated dejectedly. _This hasn't healed? Meaning he has had these since he got them from _that _place?! That could have been weeks ago! They haven't healed!?_ I was so furious that I hadn't notice as the rest of the team and Dani moved closer to try and see what was on the other side of the bandages. They all struggled to find their breath as they looked upon the sight of his wounds, if you could call it a wound. James was shuddering as Cyborg and Robin continued cleaning the monstrous wound. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a green kitten leap over James and land in front of him, staring at him with his big and sad eyes. Beast Boy. He was obviously trying to apologize for hurting James, most likely from seeing what was hidden under the wrappings. I closed my eyes as I took a deep breath and summoned my healing magic to help James. I let the blue energy spread out along his back, slowing the bleeding to a stop and closing the sores. It took more energy that I had expected, but eventually the sores on his back were nothing more then ugly scratches and a few cuts. He would still have scars, that was a for sure deal, but I could at least make them less prominent. He was still going to be sore, but not in as much pain.

"Yo, BB? How are his stitches? None are ripped are they?" Cyborg asked the green kitten, making me jump. _I completely forgot about those._ I was wondering if he was going to need me to help with those as well, "Never mind, I'll just check them myself." The rhythmic thunks from his footsteps could be heard as he walked around the bed, eventually on the other side of the bed to examine James.

"Their fine. Robin, hand me the gauze. We need to re-wrap him now, and hope he doesn't get hurt again." Cy answered after he was done looking over his chest. That was good, he hadn't pulled the stitches out. If his healing process wasn't moving at his normal speedy pace, then he was going to need those stitches more than ever. He winced a few times as Cy wrapped the clean gauze around his torso, though I couldn't blame him. It had to be painful just to move, but to have someone press against the wound. I shuddered at the thought. I could tell Cyborg was taking his time, not wanting to aggravate the sore anymore than what it had already gone through.

The silence that was allowing me to think, had disappeared as everyone was now in an uproar, shouting their questions and opinions at Robin. Everyone was shouting about how Robin didn't tell us the full extent of his injuries, how he was able to shoot those green energy beams, why his eyes glowed that greenish color, but it was so loud that I couldn't really understand what everyone was saying, or who was saying what. I think Starfire was yelling in her native language at one point... We were all kind of yelling at him at the same time, or we were until a strangled growling type of groan escaped from James and everyone got real quiet, all of us turning to look at him. Concern then flooded the room, it radiated off of everyone as we all watched the teen in the bed wondering why or if there was something else that was bugging him. Cyborg carefully picked him up and moved him back to his original bed, and laid him against the raised mattress, so it looked as if he was sitting up. His eyes were open and staring at each of us curiously. His eyebrows knotted together as he looked us over again, and I realized that Dani was still in the room. I stole a quick glance in her direction, only it ended up being more of a stare because she was on the verge of tears as she locked eyes with James. I looked back over to James to see that he had a sign of recognition in his blue eyes. _Blue eyes?_

"Danielle?" His soft whispered was full of emotion, like he was seeing the sun for the first time in his life. She seemed stunned by that name, though it would make more sense now to see why she used the name Dani, but her eyes grew wide with recognition as she processed the name and that it had come out of his mouth.

Her lips moved as she silently mouthed something. She paused before she finally spoke up a little louder, "You're alive?" _So they do know each other._ We were all taken aback when she shouted, "Danny!"

She literally leaped onto the bed and buried her head into his shoulder. There was the soft sound of sobs signaling to us that she was crying. To say we were confused was an understatement. We were utterly flabbergasted and unable to comprehend what just happened, well everyone but Robin. For some reason he knew what was going on, and I think he just grimaced at the use of the name that she shouted. _What was it… Danny. Wait, Danny? Did she just call out Danny? Isn't Danny the name of her cousin? So why would she…_ He had tensed up for a second, all of us following and me ready to remove her from him when he shocked us all and wrapped his arms around her and holding her in a tight embrace. His head nuzzled against hers, as if he was comforting her, while small amounts of tears leaked from his closed eyes. His normal hardened expression from all the pain and suffering he has endured melted away as he began to comfort her.

Things started to fit together...

"Danielle." He whispered again, "You're okay." He didn't release his hold, it was as if he thought she was going to disappear when his grip loosened. He continued to comfort her, whispering to her that it was alright and that she was safe now and other similar phrases. She pulled away suddenly and her icy blue eyes stared into his icy blue eyes.

_No…_ Everything was fitting together now, _He couldn't be…_

I tried to deny it, to try and deny all the facts, to deny all the things we had learned about him, but I couldn't. They looked so similar, his name, why Robin was sweating bullets, the green energy that he used, his eyes glowing that same toxic green, it all fit. The pieces to the puzzle fell into place, showing me the big picture. The kid in front of us wasn't just James, he was Danny. He was Phantom. Then another thought hit me, one that made me boil over with rage. _He lied! He lied to us about everything! He lied about who he was, what he could do, about his powers, about everything!_ I don't think I could have been angrier than I was at that moment. I glared at him, though it seemed to go unnoticed by everyone except Robin, who had walked over to me and tried to placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Raven, it's not-" He started, but I cut him off, spinning away from his touch.

"No, don't." I hissed, I could see both Robin and _Danny_ flinch at my tone, but I didn't care, "Don't tell me this is not what it looks like. He lied, and you know it."

"You don't know the whole story." Robin explained. Normally I would agree, and if I was thinking straight, I would have sensed the wave of emotions that were rolling off of everyone in the room, and that Robin was showing great signs of grief and sorrow. But as of right now, I was in no mood to try and think rationally.

I.

We.

The team.

All of us worked so hard to help him, to protect him, we even rescued him from that place! And now, to find out we were lied to about everything… It made my blood boil at the nerve he had to do something like this, and to us! _Grrr! I'm so going to kill him!_

"I don't need to know the whole story to know that he lied to us. Straight to our faces." I countered. My little conversation with Robin wasn't going unnoticed either. Every head in the room was now craned towards our direction. I scanned them, everyone confused except for the teen we had rescued. He looked petrified and filled with fear. As well as he should be.

"Yo, Raven. What are you talking about?" Cyborg asked, scratching his head. None of them figured it out yet, or they were still trying to deny that it happened. Either way, _Danny's_ act was up, and he knew it.

"Ask Danny," I hissed, pointing to the said teen, "I'm sure _he_ would love to tell you all about it." And with that I stormed out of the room, not wanting to hear the pathetic lie he was going to cook up for us.

**Robin POV**

Well this is just great. Raven's pissed. I was hoping I could explain to her about what just happened, but she stormed out of the room. I knew she was going to come back and confront Danny later, and it wasn't going to be pretty. But for now I had to keep the rest of my team from attacking Danny.

"What is she so pissed off about?" BB grouched, obviously not understanding the current situation, or the fact that the new girl just called James, Danny… Then again, this is Beast Boy so that is a possibility. I needed to intervene now because I could see the fear in Danny's eyes as Raven stormed out, then glancing around at the others in the room as most of them started to put the pieces together.

"Please, why do you refer to friend James as Danny?" Starfire asked, her innocent little voice full of confusion and wonder at the same time. Dani, pulled her eyes away from her cousins and started at Starfire with a dumbfounded expression, before looking back at her cousin. She switched her gaze between the two a few more times before smacking Danny upside the head.

"Ow!" Danny whined, rubbing the side of his head that was just smacked. There was a loud gasp from the rest of the team as they attempted to grab Dani, only her yelling at Danny stopped them.

"You didn't tell them who you are? Are you insane?!" She scolded, ignoring the way he flinched when she called him insane, "Why the hell would you not tell them, other _superheros_, that you're a hero too! God, even I know that!" By now, everyone in the room was in shock from the exchange that was happening between the two. I guess they realized she was reprimanding him for being an idiot, seeing that Raven does it to BB all the time.

"Okay, Dani." They both looked at me, "Uh, Dani with an I. Now would be a very good time to stop talking, they," I motioned to the rest of my team, "Are not fully aware of the current situation."

"Well no duh! Mr. Genius over here decided to use his middle name as a cover." She huffed, "And I thought you hated your middle name?" she said, turning back at him as she said it before moving off the bed and standing next to me. Danny however, was looking like he was about to bolt, fear and panic in his eyes as he glanced in-between each of my teammates, all of which were now understanding the predicament, and glaring harshly at the poor teen. I stepped in front of the bed, guarding Danny from everyone else, while Danielle copied my actions.

"You guys need to hear out his side of the story, there is a reason that he didn't tell us the truth about himself. Trust me, I know. All those hours and days that I spent in my room," I was hinting at why I was always in their, "Yeah, it was me researching all of this stuff. Just give me a few more hours so I can put together some things and meet me in the main room for a briefing, or debriefing. I'll explain it all then. And until then, don't attack him for it, it will only make you feel worse when you do read all the information I'll give to you in the packets." I explained, the others still looked pissed as I spoke though.

"And why should we?!" Cyborg shouted, "What reason has he given us to respect that wish? Huh? He lied to us Robin! Lied! About everything! Why should we trust him after _that_!"

I could see Danny wince at each sentence, each time Cy shouted about him, and I could see that he was hurt by it. But Cyborg did have a good point from his side, Danny did lie, but what Cy didn't know what had caused him to lie in the first place. But I did, and I had to defend him, even if I didn't like it. Truthfully, I was hurt that he had lied, but I had to put my feeling as a friend away and look at if from a detective's point of view so could see why. When you are hurt and betrayed like he was, how could you ever learn to trust anyone? It was amazing that he had trusted us as much as he did. And for the few months that he had been with us, that in its self is a miracle.

"I will explain later, Cyborg, just give me a few hours." I answered, while he just snorted and looked away, still pissed off. The other two just gave disapproving looks before the three of them walked out of the room. Somehow with isn't going to go over well, and something tells me that Raven isn't going to be very forgiving about this. _Awh crap! Raven!_ I completely forgot that she left before I could explain. I sighed as I now had to find her and give her the same speech as the others. I grimaced at the thought of that, knowing she was going to chew me out, as the best case scenario. I didn't even want to think about the worst case. I shuddered at that thought.

"Do you think that they'll forgive me?" Danny suddenly asked, worried about his actions and past lies. I turned to him with a not so positive expression. His instantly saddened, knowing that he had messed up.

"They will, eventually. Let me handle it. They will come around. I would be more worried about Raven if I were you." His eyes widened out of fear, and I didn't blame him. Raven isn't one to hand out trust so easily, and knowing that he had broken the little that he had gained, it was going to be damn near impossible to try and make up for that.

"What exactly did he do?" I heard his cousin ask, wondering about why everyone was pissed as they were, "I mean I get that he lied, but still..."

I sighed before I started to explain, "There are a series of lies that he had told us, and now that these lies are in the light, my friends are upset that he wasn't honest. They feel betrayed and hurt that they were lied to. They have a good reason too, we had a friend that turned on us before, so to them, its a repeat of that incident." I lightly explained. Dani could only stare at me, mouth agape as she tried to process this. She swallowed before finding her strength to ask another question.

"What were his lies?" she asked quietly, almost as if she was unsure that she wanted to know what they were.

"He… well… I can't explain. It's not easy…" I started to explain, only Danny interrupted.

"I lied about my powers, and who I was. And about my past." He started, staring at his hands , "I just couldn't trust them when I should have. Even after Clockwork told me I could. But after _they_ attacked me and… and did…" Danny was getting choked up as he thought about his parents and what they did to him, "I said I had lost my powers due to the experiments, but it was a lie because I was also helping them with ghost issues in my ghost form at the same time…"

"Oh, Danny!" Dani whispered, hugging her abused cousin again, fighting to hold back her tears. I quietly left the room to give the family some bonding time, and to find Raven and try to get her to hold off interrogating Danny about his lies because she would do that. After I talked to her, I would get ready for the meeting with the rest of the team.

I walked down the familiar hallway as I made my way to the dreaded room and I could already tell how this conversation was going to end. Raven had stormed out of the room in so much anger that it was scary. I didn't realize that I was already at Ravens room, staring at the door that had already opened and a very pissed off empath looking back at me, only I realized she had said something, and was waiting for my answer.

"What. Do. You. Want?" Raven repeated. I shook my head and cleared my throat.

"Look, I know your upset," Her eyes narrowed, "ummm, but, uhhh" She raised an eyebrow, _this is going to be harder than I thought_, I gulped before trying to continue only she interrupted me.

"I don't really care. He lied, and betrayed our trust. Why should I care?" She countered, normally she would be on my side, but I could tell that she was hurt. Very hurt. She must be thinking that this is like Terra. While Terra did lie to us, this isn't the same thing. Not even close.

"Because of what happened to him. Because he has had to go though. You were their when we rescued him from that lab Raven, you have seen first hand what he's gone through. So why do you keep comparing him to Terra and her betrayal? Yes he did lie to us, but he has a logical and valid reason for not trusting us. Believe me, you will understand when you hear the report." I explained as I tried to keep my cool. She only snorted and slammed the door in my face, though I wasn't very surprised about that. "The meeting is in a few hours." I finished, walking away and back to my room to put everything together. I knew that this meeting wasn't going to sit well with my team.

**Danny POV**

Robin had left an hour ago, and me and Danielle had sat on my bed for the entire time. Not that I didn't mind the company, or that she was back and safe with me, and honesty I was beyond ecstatic about that. But no, I wasn't looking forward to the part in which I was going to have to literally beg for forgiveness and hope that they would forgive me for lying. Especially Raven. She looked so hurt by the truth, I could see it in her eyes, even if she was displaying rage.

"Danny?" My cousin asked, breaking the silence in the hospital room.

"Hmm."

"Why didn't you tell them who you really were? Why did you lie to them?" I closed my eyes as I took a breath, thinking of a way to answer that.

"It's complicated, Dani. I just wasn't able to at the time, I couldn't… Not after that…" I was so close to having a flashback, I knew I needed to stop there, and somehow she did too because I felt her warmish embrace as her arms tightened around my torso. I hugged her back, knowing that she was basically the only true family I had left. Well, who I considered family anyways.

"I think I can wait to hear what the traffic light dude has to say, I don't want you to be hurting anymore that you already are." She whispered into my chest, trying to lighten the mood with a joke. I couldn't help but chuckle at her comment about Robin's choice of colors for his outfit. He does look like a traffic light.

"So, are you going to go to that meeting thing Robin was talking about?" I asked, hoping she would go, I wanted her to go, so she could understand why I did what I did. But, at the same, time hoping she wouldn't because of what they did to me, I didn't want her to be scarred and/or scared by what she would hear and possibly see. I don't know which was worse for her, not knowing and not being able to help me, or knowing and fearing that it could happen to her as well. I held my breath as I awaited her reply, which was taking a while. I watched her face as she thought deeply about it. I knew I was going to be happy with either choice she made.

"I think… I'll go to the meeting. I want to hear the truth from you but, you don't seem like you can to talk about it, and you seemed to be scarred by whatever it is, and I feel like if I knew what was wrong I could help." She said in a soft tone, looking me in the eyes as she spoke, her eyes showing the honesty in her reply. I smiled, but now I knew that I was going to have to warn her about what she was going to see, and/or hear.

"Dani, just remember that no matter what you see and hear about me and about what happened to me, I will _never_ let that happen to you. _Ever_. Understand. _They_ will not hurt you, even if I have to die trying to keep you safe, I will not let you go through _that_. I promise." I spoke clearly, the determination of keeping that promise was already locked in my mind. _I will never let her or anyone ever go through something like that!_ I could see the confusion in her eyes as I spoke, and then they widened with understanding. Hopefully it was that whatever happened to me wasn't going to happen to her.

"Danny, you're scaring me. What happened?" I could hear the worry in her voice, that she was scared about what had happened and why I wasn't going to let it, or whatever it was in her mind, happen to her.

"Look, just know that you are the only family I have left, and I won't let you get hurt by them. Ever. Okay?" I told her, while her eyes welling with tears started to spill over, "Shh, shh, it's okay." I comforted, reaching out to pull her back into another hug as she cried again, only I think they were tears of happiness. We sat there like that for another uncharted amount of time when she pulled away.

"I think I should head up to the other room now," she sniffled, running her hand across her nose, "and you probably need to rest."

I gave a sad smile as she got off the bed and started to walk to the door, "Remember Dani, were family, which means I always have you back. No matter what."

"I know," She whispered, "I'll come back in a few hours. So try to take it easy until then."

I chuckled, "Okay. I will try, but no guarantees." I watched as she left the room, the doors closing quietly and leaving me completely alone in the room. I scanned the room, trying to hold back the endless waves of memories as to why I hate hospitals and hospital related rooms. _No wonder I'm messed up, I can't even tolerate a recovery room. One that is safely guarded by the good guys at that!_ I felt myself slowly slipping away, the anger and pain coming back to me as more memories tried to resurface. I fought the natural instinct of closing my eyes, all that would do is allow me to visualize those memories, and honestly, I didn't feel like taking a trip down memory lane at the moment.

"When your done, I would like to talk to you." And emotionless tone cut through the silence. I jumped in shock as Raven made herself visible from the corner of the room. I was so lost in thought that I hadn't heard or seen her enter the room.

"What are you… How did you…" I stuttered, trying to calm my heart rate. I didn't really need everyone rushing back into the room because I was _freaking out_ again. But I noticed that Cyborg didn't reattach the vitals monitors to me, so I assumed I was in the clear for now. Don't know how long that will be for, seeing as Raven was looking very annoyed, and possible angry. Oh, who am I kidding, she wants to rip my head off. Though I can't blame her, I would want to kill me to if I was in her shoes.

"I've been sitting her for a few minutes waiting you to calm you emotions down so I could talk to you without being bombarded endlessly by them." She answered dryly, causing me to gulp loudly. _This isn't going to end well,_ I thought to myself as dread washed through me.

"And I'm guessing that you already had that meeting?" I asked, not completely unsure, but I had a bad feeling that this was where it was heading.

"No, but I want answers, and I think it would be better if they were answered by you. Personally." She glared. _Shit. Shit. Shit._ I'm now on the verge of panicking while she walked closer to my bed. You know that feeling you get when you know your screwed no matter what you do to try and fix it? Yeah, that's me right now.

"Okay? And why would I want to answer the obvious?" Apparently I can't stop digging myself a bigger hole. I'm almost positive that if you were to measure how deep this hole is, it would be half way to the center of the earth, and I'm still digging. Her eyes narrowed as she got ready to attack.

"Now that you mention it, let's start with the obvious. For example, how you lied about practically everything about your life." She started off, growling slightly.

"Yeah well, I wasn't very keen on trusting people at the time. But I'm sure you know all about that." I shot back, I didn't like this feeling of being cornered, this feeling like there was nowhere to go, no exit. Just like a cornered dog, scared and ready to attack back. I knew this was going to end badly, and I think she did too because she narrowed her eyes as if they were throwing daggers at me.

"Don't even go there. Don't you dare lecture me about trust!" She growled, "I had a friend that turned on us and sided with our arch-rival, Slade. She gave him everything about us and we all almost died because of her, so don't even lecture-" During her little spiel, I was growing angrier and angrier, _I don't have a right! I don't have the right to tell you about trust! I have every right in the world to lecture you on this topic!_

"I have more of a right that you ever could! I turn to my parents for help and they tried to drag me out of the house!" I started while interrupting her, my furry boiling to the surface, and I was only getting started.

"While I do feel somewhat bad for you on that level, according to Robin, that's normal for most meta-humans to have their parents abandoning them, shunning them for being different." She scoffed, not seeing the point I was trying to make, and that sent me over the edge, unable to hold back the explosion of rage. She gasped as I let loose.

"I WISH I COULD HAVE BEEN ABANDONED, OR BE DISOWNED BY MY FAMILY! BY MY PARENTS! THEY HAVE IT EASY! NO, WHAT I WENT THROUGH IS NOTHING COMPARED TO THAT!" I was shaking from all anger and hatred that I had been holding inside of me. I just had to let it loose, and I couldn't stop now that it had seen the surface.

"You need to calm down, you'll have another episode. You don't want that just as much as I don't." She was afraid, as well as she should be.

"Oh really!? And you think is just as easy as flipping a switch!? Because it's not! You have no idea what it takes to keep myself in control!" I wasn't calming down any time soon, too bad she didn't see that.

"Ja-Danny! Stop! Just trust me on this-" _Oh no she didn't! She did not just tell me to trust her after she just tried to lecture to me about trust!_ That's when I really let her have it, not caring about anything anymore. I was out of my bed and three feet from her, closing distance fast. Within seconds I was more like three inches from her face, and towering over her as I began to scream at her again.

"TRUST!? _TRUST!?_ YOU WANT ME TO TRUST YOU AFTER YOU JUST DECIDED TO GIVE ME A LECTURE ABOUT TRUST!? LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT TRUST! I _TRUSTED_ THAT MY PARENTS WOULD HELP ME! I _TRUSTED_ THAT I, THEIR OWN SON, COULD COUNT ON THEM FOR ANYTHING, THAT THEY WOULD HELP ME WHENEVER I NEEDED IT! YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!? THEY _TURNED_ ON ME! THEY STABBED ME IN THE BACK BECAUSE I WAS HALF GHOST!" My outrage would have scared Pariah Dark, that's how enraged I was. Raven was staring at me wide eyed, like she had just let out a monster. And she did.

"But…" again I interrupted her, and there was no turning back now.

"THEY DESPISE ME, THEY LOATH MY VERY EXISTENCE! THEY ARE THE REASON THAT I AM THE WAY I AM! THEY ARE THE ONES THAT DID THIS TO ME!" I shouted at her, pointing to the scars that were hidden underneath the bandages. I watched as realization hit her face, but I wasn't done yet, even though I could see the fear, the shock, the regret in her eyes, I still continued, "WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU PARENTS STRAPPED YOU DOWN TO AN EXAMINATION TABLE AND CARVED OPEN YOUR CHEST WITH A SCALPEL!? WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME THEY INJECTED YOU WITH GOD KNOWS WHAT, OR DECIDED TO FIGURE OUT HOW FAST YOUR HEALING PROCESS WORKED, OR HOW YOU BODY COULD RECOVER FROM THINGS THAT SHOULD KILL IT!? MY PARENTS DECIDED THAT I WAS THE PERFECT SPECIMEN FOR ALL THE NEW AGENTS TO PRACTICE ON! THEY SIGNED THE FORMS WITHOUT HESITATION SO THAT I COULD BE SUBJECTED TO THAT TORTURE! I WAS BEATEN, INJECTED, AND DISSECTED OVER AND OVER BY MY PARENTS JUST BECAUSE I WAS DIFFERENT! BECAUSE I _TRUSTED_ THEM TO HELP ME!" I finished, panting from all the shouting while I heard the blood pounding in my ears from all the anger I unleashed. It was only after I practically told her everything that the memories came back, everything that they did to me. And it hit me full force, like slamming into a brick wall.

I closed my eyes as I turned away from her, clenching my fist tightly to my side, my knuckles probably turning white from the action though I didn't care. When I finally did open my eyes, I felt the release of tears flow down my cheeks as if the dams had been broken. I knew I shouldn't be crying about them, but sometimes I couldn't help but wonder what I ever did wrong, what actions and what I could have said that would have put me in this situation. What could have made them attack me the way they did, to torture me in that way? But it has been about three years since that incident, and I need to get over it, Vlad is the one that put me back together. Sure I used to hate him, but he did everything to try and make me stable again, even if I will never be completely stable. That's a depressing thought, but now that I think about it, I'm throwing away all of his hard work, all the nights he comforted me when I woke up screaming in the night, every time he calmed me down after an episode, all the times he put in trying to get me back to a normal, and I need to remind myself to pull myself together. Vlad was a real father, not them. Ravens voice broke me out of my trance, if you could call it that.

"Danny... I-I didn't know... I, I thought… I'm-" She stuttered, trying to put a sentence together.

"Don't." I said forcibly, turning to look at her. She instantly closed her mouth so I could continue, "Just don't. You have already done enough." I closed my eyes as I took a deep breath and turned to face her again.

"But... I-" she started, confused and worried about me.

I raised my hand to stop her from continuing, "Just stop." I fell silent after that, lowering my arm, the pain from my back and chest finally catching up with my earlier actions. The tension thickening from what had just conversed, as I could practically taste it. I wanted time to just think, to just wash away everything that had happened. And to do that I needed to be alone. I mentally deflated as I realized that, but it was a necessary thing.

"Danny, can I-" Raven started again, but like last time, I raised my hand and cut her off, ignoring the pain again.

"Just... Just leave me alone. I just need to be alone right now." The melancholy evident in my voice as I shut her down. Then I was staring at the floor, not really interested in anything other then figuring out how I could get a fresh start after everything that has happened. I turned and walked passed her as I exited the room, not sure where I was headed.

**Raven POV**

I was currently pacing around in my room, going over and over the events that took place just a few hours ago. I had been trying to work this out but I couldn't get though it.

When I had first gone into the room to get some answers from Danny, I had not expected the one's I had gotten. I didn't know anyone could be as cruel as his parents had been. My _father,_ and I use that term loosely, may be Trigon the Terrible, but even I didn't have something like that happen to me when I was on Azarath. So when he had stated that he wanted to be alone, I could only stand there in shock, and possibly horrified, as Danny left the room.

It kept replaying in my mind, what he had said. I mean he was tortured by his parents. _His own parents!_ The people that are supposed to protect you and are always supposed to be there for you, yet his turned on him. Everything was making sense now; of course he wasn't going to tell us everything about him. Of course he was going to lie about everything. If he couldn't even trust his parents, why would he even bother to ask us for help? The answer was easy, he wouldn't.

He told us that over and over, but did we listen to him?

No.

But we trusted him, gave him everything that he would have needed to get better, and didn't even tell us what was really wrong with him. Let's not even discuss that fact that he is just like his cousin, a half ghost.

_How does that even work anyways? How can anyone be half dead?_

I was still furious about that, only for the next thing to enter my mind. He played with my feelings. And after the whole Malichor thing, I don't think I could take another heartbreak. Not this soon. And with all the other things we have had to deal with, I knew I shouldn't even go there. I shouldn't even dwell on the subject, but I was already there so I began my internal rant on that as well. He kissed me. I mean he _kissed_ me. Where the hell did that come from! It was unexpected!

_But was it unwanted?_

That made me pause. Just that one sentence was enough to stop the anger I was just feeling a few seconds ago and think deeply about that simple question. _Was it? Was it unwanted?_

_No... Yes... Maybe?_ I stumbled though those answers and couldn't come to a definite conclusion about how I felt about that kiss. I know that my emoti-clones didn't really help in me after it happened, they were all just... Actually now that I think about it, they didn't really tell me how I should have felt about it.

_What if it was just a lie to mess with me as well?_

_He's not the type to do something like that. Is he? No, he wouldn't._

_But how do I know that for sure, I mean he lied about who he was._

_He defended us when Beast Boy called me creepy, and he gave us the inspiration to defeat Malichor. And after that, he checked up on me because he was worried._

Now I was getting frustrated with the back and forth of defending him and accusing him, _Gah! Why was this so hard? I'm furious with him. Why am I trying to defend him at the same time? What has given him the right to just have my forgiveness after something like this?_

_Nothing. He has to earn it. Right? Nothing is just given, one must earn it. That's how everything works. He has to earn my trust back. But not just that, he has to earn the right to talk to me._

This mental turmoil was going to blow up the tower, so I decided to meditate. Well, I tried to meditate, but my mind was too frazzled for that. Even when I tried to go into nevermore, it didn't help, so I was reduced to pacing again. _I have never had this problem before. Why am I so emotionally distressed over this? Over him? What is going on that was preventing me from figuring this out? Why is this so hard?_ I was practically screaming at myself as I debated with this issue mentally. I could have been pulling my hair out and I wouldn't have noticed. I looked in my mirror, _nope, it's all there._ I sighed as I flopped on my bed, rubbing my temples. I was getting nowhere with this and I didn't know how to fix it.

The one thing that I knew for sure was that he didn't have the trust that he use to have. And he was going to have to work himself over the edge to gain it back.

**Clockwork POV**

I watched the screen, smiling to myself as I watched the worst of the storm pass. I knew she would come around eventually, she just needed some time. As the door behind me was busted down, I knew who it was without looking. _He's finally here. I wonder why it took him so long?_ I laughed internally at the thought as I already knew the answer.

"Clockwork!" the eerie voice screeched. I calmly turned to look at him, noting the anger he was expressing was exactly as the viewing screens predicted. His red eyes hidden behind his black hood, they were shinning brightly from rage. The midnight darkness of his cloak almost made him just as frightening as it seemed to make him fade in and out of view as he moved. His dark skin blending with the darkness of his cloak. The black, silver, and red gauntlet, Soul Taker, sat menacingly on his left hand, the light glow from the red showed that the gauntlet was currently empty. I knew it was just for effect, trying to intimidate me.

"I was wondering when you would make your appearance. I'm guessing you have a break?" I asked, not worried about anything. I, of course, knew how this would end so I had no reason to fear him. I turned to face the unannounced figure in my tower, shifting from my middle aged from to my child form.

"You know exactly why I'm here!" He growled, "You let him go _back!_ And didn't _try_ to help him?! Do you know how hard it was for me to bring him back?! To fix the damage they have done to him?!" the hooded figure shouted, his eyes glowing a brighter red.

"Yes, I am well aware of Daniel's current situation, then again, when do I not know everything?" I responded in a calm tone, my form fast forwarding to its elderly appearance.

"Don't play your time games with me, Clockwork! It won't work. Not this time. How could you not help him? How could you just let him go back _there_! After what happened the first time!" he continued to rant, raising his gauntlet covered hand and pointing to the screen showing the young halfa's first experience in the hands of the agency. I knew he was furious, but then again, he was always a little protective of Daniel, especially when he found his name, the name of the legendary ghost that had defeated the Ghost King, Pariah Dark, on _his_ list.

"I know how you must feel about this, but it was necessary. Whether or not you approve of my actions does not matter. He needs to be able to trust human's again, not just ghosts. This was a for sure way to get that through his stubbornness."

"But to force him to suffer through that torture again? How can you even think that he deserved _that_ to learn a lesson? He might be under your watch, but he is also my student, as well as Frostbite's and Plasmius's. He is not just your pupil, Clockwork! I would have thought that you would have taken better care of him then this!" I could understand how he was feeling, but at the same time, Daniel had lost all trust in those that were living. I did not want to leave him in the facility, so I semi-influenced the judges to "approve" of the document the Titans had presented. They were following the protocol of the laws, so I found no harm done with that, knowing that it would have been approved of in all the time lines anyways, so I speed the process up.

"Please, old friend, you need to trust my actions, it did hurt me to have to watch Daniel be taken back there, but had I not allowed this to happen…" I motioned to a screen that had changed to the outcome of not going back to their facility. I watched his reactions with amusement as he studied the screen with thought and reason. I turned to the screen to see a later outcome, his mental state taking a turn for the worst causing him to dive off the deep end and loose himself to his insanity. And by this taking place, a new, more sadistic and insane version of Dan to emerge this mental break down. One without the combination of Plasmius's ghost half.

"I may see your point this time, but should there be another incident like this, I will have no second thoughts about intervening myself. Even if it does affect the time stream in a negative way." He threatened, though I knew he wouldn't. I was the reason he could get everywhere that he needed to be. I was the one that enchanted his and Daniels lists.

"It won't, this is what he needs. You know I only want what's best for him. Why else would I have him help you with that ghostly problem?"

"Because I recommended it. His obsession was breaking just as quickly has his sanity, and you know how dangerous that can be. But enough of this bickering, it will not help the fate of our ward." I nodded, this was not helping Daniel, "To more urgent of matters, what of Plasmius? What has become of him?"

"I am still unsure. He will take some more time before I can determine if he will be a beneficial factor in Daniel's life. I shall notify you once I am positive of his mentor, and father-like figure's status and his effect in the time stream." I said, turning back to examine the time streams once more.

* * *

**There, done. I hoped it was worth the really long wait that I'm still really sorry for!**

**OMG! Thank you to all the people that reviewed during this agonizing two month wait! It was amazing! I was always so excited when I get new ones! It makes me feel great knowing that you all like my story! Even people that just follow or favorite the story makes me happy!**

**Okay, so I'm almost positive that I'll be changing the rating of this story from a M to a T, but still debating with myself on that... Anyways, I hope this chapter was up to par with the rest! ****So until next time!**


	15. The Path to Redemtion

**Hey everyone! I'm back! I guess you already knew that, or you wouldn't have clicked on the story... Anyways, I hope the wait wasn't that long, but I'll try to get back into a schedule, a chapter once a week or so. Life does get in the way sometimes, golf, Tae-kwone-do, work, but I don't have school for the summer semester so that's a definite plus! **

**Oh my god you guys are amazing! I know I say this every time, but I love all the response my story has gotten! I mean you each email alert I get that is related to this story make my day so much better! Literally! I love you all so much for following and favoriting this story! Reviews are amazing too, and I love reading each one that I get!**

**And, I did move this story down to a T rating, however, it may move back up depending on how graphic I decided to get in later chapters. With that being said, I don't think it should get much more graphic but you never know...**

**If you want it, here is a recap of what has happened so far:**

**Last time, The titans found out the Danny had been lying to them and they got angry. Dani lets it slip that they were halfas during the time Robin was checking on Danny, not knowing that her cousin had been keeping it a secret. Danny and Dani have some bonding time and then Raven and Danny got into a little argument ending with Danny leaving the room while explaining why he was the way he was. Robin was in the process of creating a briefing for the team so they could understand what and why he didn't tell them the truth in the first place. Later we see Clockwork and a strange figure arguing over what is best for Danny...**

**And I haven't put a disclamer in a while... like since the first chapter, so here it is: I don't own either Danny Phantom or Teen Titans.**

**Anyways, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 15**

**Robin POV**

My nerves were on edge, a rare occurrence but it happens sometimes. This would be one of those times, and I think it was from the briefing that I was about to give. I fiddled with the flash-drive that currently rested in my hands, feeling the smoothness of the black plastic outer casing, the snapping sound of clasping and unclasping the cap that covered the USB jack. This flash drive was very important as it contained all the horrific and gruesome experiments that were done to Daniel. I remember rescuing him from that facility, how he was strapped to that table while being cut open, the blood pooling beneath him, and the screams of unimaginable pain. I remember racing to the computer to find and download everything they had on Danny. Or James, as that was what we thought his name was at the time. I wasn't sure what was worse, what they had done to him, or the fact that I didn't have the time to download everything they had on Danny.

And now, I stood in front of my team and Dani, well, most of my team. Raven wasn't here, and I wasn't all that surprised, but I hope she shows up eventually. I took a deep breath as I began to quiet them before starting this meeting. Cyborg must have gotten tired of seeing me just standing there and interrupted me before I could begin.

"Okay Rob, you better have a very good reason as to why we should care about him, especially after all the lies he has told us." Cyborg growled, everyone else stared at me. Dani however just looked like she was deep in thought.

"I told you there was a reason that he lied and I'm going to explain it to you, just try not to blow up the tower while I bring everyone up to speed on his current situation." I answered while trying to get rid of all the tension in the air, "And how can you just turn your back on him now? When you have seen first hand what he has gone through? So why?" I countered, causing him to fall silent. I knew this was going to get ugly and it was going to get ugly fast. I turned around and plugged in the thumb drive and opened all the files that pertained to Danny. I quickly sorted and opened the ones that I would need first, such as his date of birth, his family, and other personal records. I knew that I needed to go over his entire story before I could get everyone to understand where he had come from, and why he did what he did. I didn't fully understand everything until I found out his back story, and once I did, I knew he was a hero in his town, and continued to help his town and keep it safe even when everyone hated him. He even protected the people that gave his life hell, and he did it almost all by himself with no instruction from someone else. Unlike myself were I learned everything from Batman, he had to learn all of the rules of being a hero on his own. And all of that just proves to me that he isn't evil or a villain, but that he just fell off the path and needs help getting back up. He could be trusted, and he was going to need our trust if he was ever going to heal.

"His real name is Daniel James Fenton, born March 6, 1994 to Madeline "Maddie" and Jack Fenton. He had an older sister named Jasmine "Jazz" Fenton," I pulled up photos of the family. Focusing more specifically on the parents because they were going to be very important later on in this meeting.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know what-" Beast Boy interrupted me, rolling his eyes. There was a loud smacking sound that had cut off whatever he was going to say.

"Let him finish!" the ghost girl shouted, in the after position of slapping him upside the head in a similar fashion as Raven. "Continue please."

"As I was saying, Danny was born to a family of ghost hunters, and up until his freshman year in high school, the Fenton's use to be considered crazy and were the laughing stock of the town. Jazz, seemed to be a bright for her age and seemed to be respected by all the teachers and adults, even her peers as most overlooked the fact she came from the same family. Danny however, wasn't. And I think it is safe to say that Danny was bullied during his childhood and into his high school years, or rather year since he was reported missing towards the beginning of his sophomore year. Most of the bulling was probably due to his parent's hobby. All of this is general info easily found in the records and such in the Amity Park database along with some of my own observations. Now, I did manage to dig up articles that explained other things for me as well, such as how I believe Danny got his powers." The team seemed to perk up at this, "The Fenton's house had an ops center on the roof and a lab full of ghost hunting gear, containment units, blueprints for other designs, and a ghost portal built into their basement." The team seemed a little on the confused side, so I continued.

"There was an article I found that announced a lab accident that involved Danny. He, along with his friends Sam and Tucker, were in the lab when it happened. Danny was electrocuted by the portal when he ventured _inside_of it to see why it didn't work the first time." The entire team gasped, Dani however just continued staring at the screen like it was common knowledge. I continued anyways, doing my best to ignore my teams gasps of horror, "However, Danny somehow miraculously survived that accident, and about a month later, his ghostly alter-ego appeared around town for the first time. I believe that this accident is what gave him his powers, and based off of their houses mainframe that I hacked into, he was electrocuted, but he was also infused with high amounts of a substance known as ectoplasm which-"

"Ummm, what's ectoplasm?" Beast Boy asked. I can't say it wasn't a good question because none of us, save for maybe Raven and obviously both Danny and his cousin, would know what this substance is. Fortunately, it was Dani that answered the question for me.

"Ectoplasm, which is a radioactive green color, is what all ghosts are made up of, it holds everything we need to stay alive... In a sense. Ghost follow what we call an obsession, it's the thought or idea that drives the ghost and what it was created on. Word of warning, DON'T ask a ghost what their obsession is," BB looked as if he was going to ask why, but Dani cut him off, "it will be the last thing you ever do. It is considered rude and will offend most ghosts. But back to the point, ectoplasm is also a raw source of energy if found or created in the proper conditions, however it can also be highly unstable if you don't know how to handle it. Not only that, but ectoplasm has amazing regenerative properties for us ghosts, which explains why we heal so quickly. I'm sure you noticed my cousin has healed some wounds at a faster than average pace. That would be the ectoplasm reacting within his own body." Dani explained, only giving a brief definition. The team seemed to get the jest of it, so I continued on with my report.

"Thank you, Dani. As I was saying earlier about Daniels lab accident, I think the ectoplasm fused to his body at the same time as being zapped by the machine, so it is most likely that the ectoplasm also fused his DNA, thus causing him to be half ghost."

"You probably noticed the green flecks that litter his blood. That would be the ectoplasm." Dani chimed in, further proving my point. So I nodded in appreciation.

"Now, when I looked up the name of the town hero, Danny Phantom, on the web, I came across numerous articles about him saving the town. There were a few others about how he was a menace and declared public enemy number one, but I have found reason to justify that he is completely innocent on those charges. The first one was that he "kidnapped" the mayor, and after reviewing the video footage, everyone can clearly see that the Mayor has red eyes, and pulled Danny's arm around him and makes it look like he was being kidnapped while he is the one pushing both of them inside the building." I pulled up the news article and video for everyone in the room. I played the video for them and let them decide what happened before I explained it to them. There were a few stories but after they saw the truth, there would be a little more believing in what I had to say.

"Next is that he saved the town from _three_ separate ghost invasions. One being this event right here and another was when a ghost king tried to take over the world." Cyborg raised his eyebrow, "I know, but the big issue is that the entire town was sucked into the ghost zone for a few days. It was only after the town reappeared that it was named the most haunted city in America." They all looked really skeptical now.

"It's true, the ghost zone does exist. I've been there, and lived there in dire times. How do you think he got his powers anyways, I mean he activated a machine that rips a hole in-between our two dimensions." Dani said offhandedly.

"Yes, well… As I was saying, Danny saved the entire town and took down the Ghost King all by himself. After that, Phantom was regarded as a hero for some time after that, and the younger generation always thought of him as a hero while the older population believed him to be evil. However after the ghost king incident, some of the older population began to switch sides. The Fenton's still seemed to believe that he was still evil. That was pretty much the biggest event until another ghost invasion by something named Undergrowth, which Phantom beat using an ice ability." That must have explained were he got his ice powers to the team, however the ghost girl looked curious at the fact that Danny could use ice powers.

"He has ice powers, Cool! I wonder if I do as well?" She mumbled to herself. I raised an eyebrow to myself at her statement, but continued on moving towards Danny being in the GIW facility.

"Now, according to these documents, there were a series of projects and tests that happened in the agency, known as The Guys in White, or GIW for short, and they set up a plan that would capture Phantom easily. What the actual plan consisted of I don't know. I wasn't able to download everything from their mainframe, but I do know that it worked because Danny was there for about six months before he escaped-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on! He was there for six months and somehow escaped a building designed to keep him in?! How the hell did he manage that?!" Cyborg interrupted, "I mean you saw him when we rescued him after a month, so how could he have gotten away after _six_ months of _that_!"

"I couldn't get that info, and I know I'm missing a lot of the documents that contained information on Danny, but I have a feeling he didn't do it alone. He somehow managed to keep himself in hiding for two and a half years before we found him the day our car hit him." Cy winced at the memory, "Sorry Cy, but from what I could gather, they were monitoring him the entire time he was in the city. And they knew what he was, which is why they were so interested in him. I mean he's half dead, half alive. And for an organization that deals with ghost and the dead, he was a rarity. A one of a kind. At least until we found out about his cousin. And as far as I know based off of what I was able to download, they only think there is one ghost-human hybrid in the world."

"Okay, and when are we going to learn why he lied to us. Cause all I'm hearing is his life story." BB whined, rolling his eyes as he leaned farther down on the couch out of boredom.

"Yeah, I mean that's great an all, but we still have no reason as to why he did that." Cyborg agreed.

"Would you two just shut up and let to him talk. Geez, you'd find out if you just listen!" Dani snapped.

"While I agree with friend Cyborg's and friend Beast Boy's reasoning, I do believe that friend Robin will answer our questions about not friend Danny. And friend Dani is right, we must be patient if we are to be able to understand not friend Danny's problems." Starfire reasoned, surprisingly speaking in a less of broken English, but with both hybrids sharing the same name, it was still confusing.

I nodded and continued, "I found some documented results of the _tests,_" I grinded out that word, "they ran on Daniel while inside the facility. On those documents were lists of names, most being the ones that approved of the experiments, and who conducted them. And this is why he didn't trust us with the truth. Two of those names, on either one or both sides of the lists were Jack Fenton, and Maddie Fenton." Everyone gasped, staring at me with wide eyes and jaws dropped, the look of utter shock and horror flickering though them as the news finally processed inside their heads. I pulled up another picture of the two adults, both in their all white attire while on duty at the facility.

"No…"

"Dude!"

"But, they are…"

"His own parents."

I could see the tears that were forming in the eyes of the girls. Everyone looked crushed. I knew they weren't going to be pissed for long, now that they had a much better understanding of why he is the way he is. That much was clearly visible.

"So, his parents. They are the ones that… I mean, they did that… To him?" Cy almost whispered.

"Yes, and that is why he is so hesitant to trust us. He probably needed help and when turned to his parents to get help, they strapped him down and experimented on him. It makes sense as to why he wouldn't tell us anything, and makes you realize just how broken he really is. Which brings up another point, how he could even stand to listen to us, or even stay in the tower for the time that he did when we first met him."

Most of the teens on the couch were deep in thought at that. All of them but Dani.

"What type of t-tests did they p-p-pref-form?" Danielle whispered shakily, tears threatening to leave the corners of her eyes. Everyone else's heads snapped up at her question. In that split second after she asked that question, I knew it was about to get ugly now. With all the things that they did to him. I had to take breaks every few minutes when I was reading all of these documents because I was just so angry at what they had done to him. And I didn't even have all of the documents. I scanned the people in front of me, the uncertainty in their faces. They wanted to know, but at the same time, they didn't want to know.

It was one of those things where you don't find out all the details and your left wondering, or you do look at the details and wish you didn't. I knew it was the same type of situation. I saw faces drop when I didn't respond instantly, like they knew that it was going to be ugly, and very, very disturbing.

I took a deep breath before I answered that question, "There is a lot that happened to him. And it is not pretty. We all know that he was forced to endure a vivisection, consciously and with no anesthetics, but there is so much more that they did to him within that six month period. But let's start with those, he had 17 total of those done, most were tests for the new workers that needed the extra practice," everyone's eyes bulged in horror.

"They used him as a training dummy?" Dani whispered. Everyone was in shock now, unable to process that idea. _To preform this kind of experiment is cruel itself, but to use him as a warm-up for a real ghost? There are no words to describe that kind of treatment._

"And the Fenton's were either supervising or leading these sessions. The Fenton's actually signed a form that allowed the agency do what they wanted to him, and were part of the plan to capture him the first time. They also preformed restrain and endurance experiments as well, mostly meaning that they would see how long he could stay conscious after an excessive wound or try to see how fast his healing process worked. Danny had tried to escape on his own multiple times, all leading to beatings as a form of punishment. Like his back for example," I saw their look of dread.

"You mean the wound that I hit when I tackled him?" BB squeaked, holding on to the small shred of hope that it wasn't that wound I was referring too.

"Yes, that one. According to these reports, after they had knocked him unconscious from trying to escape, they dragged him to a room and used ghost proof restraints to chain him to a wall and proceeded to whip him. And they whipped him for the entire day." I was trying so hard to keep myself in control while I explained to them the true extent of what he went through, but it was getting difficult. I heard all of them gasp, and as I glanced at each of their faces, I could see the raw emotion that was clearly written on each of them. Starfire was in tears, along with Dani who was still wide eyed and in shock, Beast Boy was just wide eyed and jaw slightly agape as he stared at the screen behind me. Cyborg was fuming, he already knew that part, but only because we had discovered his back when changing the bandages the first day back in the tower. All of them had the look of heartbreak and anger perfectly balanced, along with the disgust that these people, if you could even call them that, could do this to an innocent teen.

"But he is their son!" Cyborg roared, "How could they just let him suffer like that?!"

"They didn't believe that he was their son, they only saw a ghost. And in their minds, that was an evil entity that needed to be destroyed after they got all the information they needed from him."

Everyone was in an uproar now, shouting at me, but not shouting about me. Ranting on how they could just throw him out like last week's trash and such. How someone who did nothing but save people that didn't even appreciate his actions and heroics, could be sentenced to such a grim fate. It was all so unreal that it could even happen, yet it was true. Danny's scarred and marked up body was proof of that, and his mental health was more than enough to get these people locked away for life.

But all of this was just too much for his cousin as she bolted out of the room, tears and fear on her face, most likely heading to see her cousin. I dropped my head and sighed, I knew this wasn't going to end well, and I was right. All of this was causing more chaos than it was solving.

"QUIET!" I shouted, gaining the attention of the other three people in the room, "I know it is hard to even acknowledge the fact that this could happen, but it did, and we need to be there for Danny. To help him get better and to be able to just learn to be himself before all of this happened. But to do that, we have to trust him. We have to take the first step and help him back up. Because if we don't, we won't be any different than the people that abused him in the first place." I knew I had gotten some form of thought into their head because they all looked to be in some form of thought over it. They didn't want to trust him, but it wasn't that they couldn't, it was that even though all the lies he did tell us, he has never done a thing to prove that he was a bad person, or had any intentions to harm us. If anything, he was lying to protect us, and that was his true intention. A hero would sacrifice themselves to keep others safe. He was, and still is, a hero. He just needed to be reminded of that, and to be put back on the right track.

It was going to be tough, but this was the first step, and I was going to get every member of my team to take it one way or another. Dani came running back into the room with a fearful look on her face. I knew that could only mean one thing.

"He's not there! He's not in the medical room anymore! He's gone." She finished with a whisper, the fear evident on her face. I knew she was thinking the worst, but it wasn't possible, we would have been alerted if anyone had broken into the tower.

"He's probably hiding or something; we should spread out and search the tower for him." I answered calmly, looking to the others. In reality I was beginning to panic, something like this had happened the first time he disappeared and we weren't notified until the next day. And by then it was too late to help him. I don't think I was ever going to forget that moment when we realized that Danny needed our help, and we couldn't be there for him.

Cyborg huffed, breaking my thoughts as I looked over to the source of noise, while BB turned his gaze to the floor. Starfire was the only one that seemed like she wanted to help look for him. I closed my eyes and took a quick breath, glaring at the two titans still on the couch.

"I know you don't want to do anything but fume about what occurred, but Danny is missing at the moment and I will need your help to find him." I spoke, gaining their attention.

"And why should we? Rob, you can't be telling me that you forgave him just like that!" Cy yelled.

"I never said I forgave him. But he is missing from the med bay and if I remember correctly, he was missing for a few hours when he was kidnapped." I hating bringing up that point, but it needed to be said.

"And why should-"

"If you have any form of a conscious, you would get off the couch and help us look for him. You may not trust him but trust is a two way street. And I hope you know that, because I know he can't trust us unless we trust him. You can't always take trust, you have to give it sometimes, and with Danny's current situation, you have to give it in order to receive it. It's as simple as that." I explained, not thrilled that I had to be so harsh with them, but I needed to get the point across that with all that has happened in his life, we needed to be on the forgiving and understanding side before we start to question his motives. We each took different sections of the tower as we searched, and it was almost sunset when I reached the last place on my section of the list, the roof. Knowing how the world liked to work sometimes, he would be there. I pushed open the door to the roof and sitting on the ledge farthest from place from the door, was Danny as he watched the sunset.

**Danny POV**

I ended up on the roof, it was the only place that seemed like it would peaceful and quiet like I wanted, or rather needed. I stood on the edge, just staring out into space, enjoying the warmth of the sun, and eventually the sunset. By then, I was sitting, my knees tucked to my chest with my arms cradling my legs while my chin rested against my knees. My back didn't sting or hurt much when I moved, I assumed Raven fixed it up better than my healing could.

Ectoranium.

God I hate that stuff. It always leaves a scar that no amount of healing and/or remedies can fix. And I have plenty of them, my body looks like a road map essentially. I didn't dare think about what my back was going to look like now, if it wasn't gruesome before…

I shuddered at the mere thought before looking back out across the view. The stars were starting to shine though the darkening sky, and I could start to make out some basic constellations, Orian and Ursa major. I loved astronomy, and I guess I still do, but my dreams of being an astronaut were destroyed when I was kidnapped and tortured. I was broken, well more like almost shattered, but not completely broken.

Yet…

I was getting better, and then _they_ came back. _They_ took me back.

I so deep in my thought that I wasn't aware someone was calling my name until a hand landed on my shoulder. Due to my mind set of resentment to them, I instinctively jumped up, twisted around, and put the person in an arm bar before realizing it was Robin.

"Sorry." I mumbled, releasing his arm and backing away slightly while not looking him in the eyes. I heard his shoulder popping as he rubbed and rolled it, trying to ease the pain. I knew he was going to be sore tomorrow from it, that's for sure.

"Don't worry about it… So why were you up here?" He asked, trying to see if I would open up a little. I sighed, _Do I really want to tell him?_ I immediately scolded myself for thinking that, I mean that's how I got into this mess in the first place. I continued to battle with myself and completely forgot about the question until Robin spoke again, concerned "Are you okay?"

I looked up, "Huh? Oh yeah I'm fine, just mentally battling myself."

He frowned, "About?"

"It's nothing," He didn't look convinced when I glanced at him, "I just was scolding myself for thinking about not telling you anything that you probably needed to know, I mean, how else am I suppose to fix the mess I created if I just keep piling it into a corner or under the rug."

"You're trying to convince yourself that letting us help you is a good thing? It would make sense, I mean, you have had issues with trusting others with you secret and such, I can't blame you for that."

"But you should. You should blame me, you should hate me for what I did. Everything I did, everything I said was a lie, how can you just forgive me for it just like that? Just pretend that it didn't happen?" I asked. Don't get me wrong, I wanted a second chance, but it shouldn't be this easy. I was thinking that I was going to struggle to get everyone to just be in a neutral standing point with me. Besides Dani, but she doesn't count in this trust issue at the moment.

"Well there are a few reasons for your question. One, I'm taking this case and you on as a detective would, trying to understand why you did what you did based off of what I have seen that you went through. Two, you turned to your parents for help and they basically attacked you and experimented on you in horrific ways. While it's common for metas to be disowned and abandoned, that wasn't the case with you, which leads into my third reason. I am hurt that you lied to us. So don't think that I wasn't, but unlike our friend Terra, you have a completely different reason behind your lies, a more logical and understandable reason therefore making it easier for me to determine that you can be trusted. Everyone deserves a second chance, we gave Terra a second chance when she betrayed us to Slade. She eventually sacrificed herself to stop the active volcano, and killed Slade at the same time, and using her power, she turned the entire place and herself to stone, saving our lives and the lives of the every person in the city. It's how I know you deserve a second chance, probably more than anyone." Robin explained. I was in awe at his logical deducing of the situation, he basically told me that he was going to let me start over. But he also told me why everyone was hurt so badly when the truth came out. It was because they went through something similar, someone they trusted, someone they thought was a friend, at least until they found out it was all a lie.

_And here I am reopening old wounds. Good job Danny._I scolded myself again._Why not pour some salt in there while I'm at it._

"But why? Why are you so forgiving about this? How can you be so forgiving, and calm about it? It makes no sense! I mean I can understand your reasons, but that doesn't mean it should be this easy to get your trust again! And on top of that, why are you trying to help me. Not that I don't appreciate it, but I'm a lost cause essentially. And I'm a freak of nature, an abomination, a monster. So why?" I ranted, frustrated and confused. It wasn't making any sense in my mind, or I was subconsciously trying to protect myself. _Why do I have to be so… so… gah! I just can't do anything right anymore._ I was now attacking myself, great. As if I didn't have enough problems. Robin seemed to sense my frustration and intervened.

"Danny, calm down. It's okay." He put his hand on my shoulder, as if to help me out of my trance, "I don't care about that, what I care about is that you were hurt and tortured for no justifiable reason. You were, and still are, a hero. And I know you lied to try and protect us. That's the real difference. That's why I'm on your side right now. Because you didn't deserve any of the things that happened to you." He stated, while I just stared at him again, confused and in awe at the same time.

"But… I still don't…" I looked towards the ground, trying to think about what I was going to try and say next, but my back decided otherwise. I clenched my jaw, gripping the air tightly, and Robin noticed my actions.

"Why don't we head back down to the med bay so you can rest? I'm sure you're tired after all that has happened." He said in a calm tone, holding out a hand for me to lead the way. Now that I thought about it, I was kind of tired, then again, all this emotional stress and arguments either with Raven or myself can't be good for me. Plus, the numbness of my back was disappearing, and started to shoot pain signals through my nerves. So, I nodded and started to walk towards the door that lead back into the tower, I was too drained to use my powers at the moment.

Robin walked next to me, not really saying anything as we made our way to hospital room. I stopped walking as I finally realized where we were headed, eyes wide as I stared ahead. I didn't want to go back in there. It was almost like déjà vu form past experiences. Robin obviously noticed the second I froze and after quickly scanning the area, he turned back to me with a confused look on his face. He opened his mouth to asked something, but I was faster.

"Do I have to go back into _that_ room?" I asked fearfully. I was never going to get over my fear of hospital room or places that reminded me of them, I'm sure I was scarred for life after all my torture. "I would feel safer in the room I used to be in." I almost whispered. He closed his mouth as he started to think about my statement. It seemed to last for eternity as I waited for the answer that I knew was coming.

"We need to go back there for a quick scan right now, and I prefer that you stayed there for the night, both for your safety and for everyone else's piece of mind. They might think that you would run away if I let you stay in the room in we gave you a while back." I frowned slightly, that was exactly what I thought he would say, "But if you still really don't want to, I can arrange things so that you are watched as you sleep. I wouldn't expect the team to be too thrilled with that." He reasoned. I could accept that. I wouldn't put it passed everyone to think that I wasn't trustworthy enough to stay where I was supposed to be. Honestly I think I would agree to anything that didn't have me in the medical related room for another night. Hell, I would accept sleeping on the couch in the main room.

"So long as I don't have to be in _that_ room, I don't care what the conditions are. I just hope you or anyone else can sleep with my midnight scream feast." I replied warily. Robin nodded as I spoke. I wasn't going to expect anything from them. In fact I wasn't going to blame them for anything they would say to me. I mean Raven already did her share.

I cringed at that. I wasn't exactly happy with myself that she was pissed at me. She basically told me how she felt and I shouted at her. Great now I have to somehow get on her good side if I even want a chance to just talk to her. That's what I really wanted. Just to talk to her, tell her I was sorry, and maybe explain myself. Ok, maybe not.

We walked into the med bay, and Robin called the others, saying he had found me. _I was missing? Since when?_ I thought about it until I remembered how I stormed out to this room when I finished yelling at Raven. So, guess that answered my own question. I was now just staring off into space as Robin did the checkups. Making sure I didn't do anything to myself in the time I wasn't in the hospital room. All of this just made me realize how much they actually cared about me and what happened to me and how much of an idiot I was in return. I knew I was going to have to work my ass off just to gain a fraction of the trust I originally had. _Why do I always screw these things up? Why can't I for once just be happy?_

"Danny? Are you listening?" Robin asked. I blinked a few times as I looked at him. He sighed as he began to repeat what he said, "I asked if you were hungry. Not eating for three days while you were resting and recovering must have taken its toll on you. And I _don't_ want a repeat what happened last time you didn't eat."

"Oh, yeah, I guess I'm a little hungry." I replied, looking away from his concerned gaze. Just then, Dani burst through the doors, tackling me in another hug. I gasped from the slight pain her talking hug caused, and my stance faltered a bit, almost sending us to the ground. We didn't fall to the ground, luckily, Robin had grabbed my hand before that happened and tried to pull her off of me because I was still injured. After she was standing, I could see the hurt and tears in her eyes. _Shit._ I knew exactly why too.

"Danny?" she whispered, sniffling as she spoke. I did the only thing I knew on how to comfort her, and pulled her into the safety of a hug, holding on to her tightly.

"It's alright Danielle, I told you. I'm not going to let them hurt you like that." I whispered into her ear as she continued to cry into my shoulder. I looked to Robin hopefully, and he nodded, leaving us alone while he got me something to eat.

I think.

I just held Danielle close to me as she cried into my shoulder, explaining everything she learned. I listened quietly, rubbing her back every time she got choked up, or I whispered encouraging words into her ear. I knew she was upset about everything that she found out, and that she probably wasn't going to be leaving my side any time soon. But she needed to get this out of her system, if she kept it bottled up…

Actually, I don't know what would happen, but I do know it's not good to keep things like this on the inside. She eventually fell asleep, and I don't really remember how or when I fell asleep, or even how we managed to lay down on the hospital bed. I was going to have to ask Clockwork about these time skips, or was he doing this to help me?

_Help me?_ That phrase was sounding weird to me, and was leaving a sour taste in my mouth. _But why?_

Then it clicked. And I was pissed. _He knew I was trapped, and that he could have helped me, and didn't do shit about it! I'm going to murder him!_ My sudden movements were enough to cause Dani to stir, because she was beginning to wake up.

"Danny?" she yawned, while stretching and cracking the stiff joints in her body. "You there?"

"Yeah," I replied lazily, hiding the anger within me so she wouldn't sense it. I looked around the room to find something to ask her about when Robin walked in.

"You're awake. Good, I didn't want to wake you up if I didn't have to. I came to see it you wanted to eat breakfast with us. Or I guess lunch since it's about 2 o'clock." He was smiling. Something told me today was going to be hell.

"Uhhh, sure… I guess…" I answered, rubbing the back of my neck nervously, "everyone still hates me don't they?" I blurted out. Though I wanted to get to the point, like the say, rip the bandage off quickly right?

"I wouldn't say hate, but yeah. They aren't pleased with you that's for sure. But I think they have a better understanding as to what really happened. I hope." The boy wonder replied, "but you are going to have to face them eventually. And I haven't seen Raven since yesterdays incident, so I haven't been able to tell her about it and-"

"She knows."

"What?" he looked at me, as if I had three eyes and a blue beak, "What do you mean she knows?"

"She knows, maybe not as much as the rest of your team, but she knows more then you think she does."

"What happened?" He demanded, his light and caring attitude was gone.

"She came in here yesterday and tried to lecture me about the truth, and I lost control and ended up ranting about how I knew more than she did on the subject." I answered, though I knew this was going to end badly, "Why do you think I was on the roof in the first place?"

"She, what?!" he hissed, his face couldn't have shown more anger then it already did.

"Yeah, she came barging in and-" This time, Robin cut me off, and he was furious.

"I told her that I was going to explain everything at the meeting! Damn it!" he paused to take a deep breath, "Look, I'll straighten this out. If she tries to do something like this again, call me. Okay? We don't need you getting any worse, mentally and physically."

I just looked at him, not really believing what he wanted me to do.

"Danny, do you understand?" He asked when I didn't respond. I nodded, but didn't say anything. The feeling in my gut returned telling me I just messed something up again. Robin nodded, and left the room, only to come right back in looking like he forgot something.

"Did you forget something?" Dani asked, confused about everything.

"No. I only came down here to see if you wanted to come up to the main room to get something to eat, I'm sure you want to get out of this place." He said, not really asking, but I could tell he was still a little steamed from the information I gave him. I thought about that for a second, weighting the options. Stay here in a room I hate with the only family I have left, or leave for a more friendly room that doesn't bring back nightmares but with people that hate me. I knew Dani would go wherever I went, seeing as she didn't want me to leave her sight. _Hmm that's a no brainer._

"Yeah, I'll come with." I said, getting up off the bed, holding on to the side so I could get my bearings before I followed him out of the room. Dani was right behind me, and practically next to me as we walked to the main room.

The doors opened loudly, or they seemed loud to me, and reveled the common room to be almost empty. Starfire was the only person in the room, and she seemed to be happy that I had come in. That confused me. I looked to Robin and he just smiled, which confused me even more. A least until I was embraced in a tight hug from Starfire.

"Oh, not friend Danny! I am so sorry for the way I treated you. I feel the ashamed for judging of you without the knowing of your past! I wish to be forgiven please!" she pleaded/cried, "I wish to start over with our meetings and to forget all the hate I felt towards you!"

I couldn't move. I could barely hold back the pain I was feeling from this so called hug. What I did register was that Dani and Robin were trying to pry the alien off of me.

"Starfire!" Robin grunted, "He hasn't fully recovered yet! You're hurting him!" He continued, trying to unhook her from me, Dani doing the same. Suddenly, I could breath. But I couldn't figure out why, at least until I saw the fading blueish hue if intangibility on my arm. _Oh, well that explains it._ I guess I made myself intangible subconsciously.

"It's okay, I would like to start over too. Just… can we not do the bone crushing hugs?" I asked sheepishly, not really meeting her eyes as I spoke while rubbing the back of my neck. I would say being nervous was appropriate at the time. Suddenly, my arm was being crushed as I was dragged to the kitchen area.

"Splendid! We shall consume the gorgalards of thrafinarf…" She trailed on about some dish that supposedly helps heal friendships. I turned to see Dani and Robin giving me and Starfire a strange look. Robin's eyes widened as I tried to say something, only to have something very slimy shoved into my mouth.

"Here, we must ..." And I would have paid more attention to what she was saying but I was too preoccupied with the blue spleen looking organ thing that was in my mouth. Dani and Robin both looked like they were about to hurl at the sight of whatever was just forced into my mouth.

"Umm, Starfire?" Robin shakily started, "I don't think ..."

I started to chew because I most definitely didn't was to see what I was eating. I took in the flavors of the mystery substance, and found it tasted a lot like chicken, with some sort of lemony garlic sauce, which was very surprising. I began to chew vigorously, as if I hadn't eaten in three days…

Oh wait, that's right, I haven't. I think Robin turned green at the fact that I actually liked this meat thing. I swallowed and Starfire squealed in excitement, saying that we were now able to be friends.

"You… liked that? Are you sure you're okay?" Robin whispered to me, while Starfire was trying to get my cousin to eat the blue food as well.

"I have an iron stomach, and it tasted like chicken. But for the record, you should try something before you say you hate it." I commented, walked to the couch and easing myself into the cushion. _One down, three to go…_

For the rest of that day, I didn't see Raven or Cyborg. I didn't really find that strange considering how much they showed that they hated me, but it didn't mean I wasn't slightly hurt by it. Though I guess I shouldn't be. Beast Boy I saw twice during the rest of the day. Once was in the main room, he apparently had just woken up and the other time was when I was following Robin to the medical room for another check up. The day had actually went by pretty quickly, though I guess waking up at 2 pm does make that seem that way. I was way more surprised that there weren't many alerts in the city, well more accurately, none.

Robin had cleared me to sleep in the room I had previously, but only because it was soundproof and I didn't really want to wake them all up with my screams from the nightmares I typically had. My bed was just like I remembered it to be, soft and warm, safe almost. It was a comforting feeling, at least to me it was. It wasn't really that long before I fell asleep, though it wasn't a great night's sleep. Not even an okay night's sleep. It was bad. It was the first time I was not under a drug induced sleep. I tossed and turned the entire time, falling in and out of consciousness at random times, and even when I was asleep in a sense, it was like I was still awake.

I gave up after five hours of that, only for the dark room to bring a flash back to the front of my mind.

_-Flashback-_

_I was sitting in a cell, not that it was much different from the first time I was in this god forsaken place, when the cell door opened abruptly exposing three guys in all white suits, most likely body guards by the way they were standing, and two others in hazamat suits. I narrowed my eyes as I made out the colors._

_Teal and Orange._

_"" Hello Phantom. It's so good to have you back." The lady in the teal hazamat suit sneered with eagerness. I sent a harsh glare her way, I was not going to let_them_get to me. Not this time._

_" Maddie Fenton." I growled back, the venom very evident in my voice, " Oh and Jack Fenton. Just my luck. It makes sense that you two would give me the warm welcome back."_

_" Oh," She was toying with me now, not that I cared. " And we think that we are so tough because we were able to avoid the GIW for over two years, well news flash ghost scum, you aren't getting away from us this time." She smiled sadistically, pulling out a weapon that looked very similar to the Jack-o-nine-tails, and whacked me with it. The pain was indescribable, and more that what I remembered. It was as if the power had been maxed out for the device because I was on the ground twitching, trying to get the numbness feeling to go away. The pins-and-needles feeling came next, you know like when your leg falls asleep and there's that feeling of pain when you try to wake it up. Yeah, that's what my whole body felt like. I couldn't move without the aggravating pain sensation to sweep though me again._

_" Well that was a success, it performed better than I would have thought. You can bring him into room 47C now to continue you tests on him from yesterday." Maddie stated, the sound of something fumbling around in her fingers was evident as she announced the guards. I heard footsteps, and I erupted in pain from their touch as I was literally dragged to the room. I couldn't help but yelp every time we turned a corner as my side would hit the edge, and always in the same spot. I'm sure there was a nice bruise there by now. I knew when they had dropped me, it was to open the doors to the room, not that I could move anyway, but somehow I managed to get to my feet. Everything was clear then as I slammed the guards head into the metal door and letting him slide to the floor before quickly turning to the other two, ducking a punch sent to my face. I grabbed his hand and flipped him, finishing him with a punch to the face and turned for the last guy. He as calling for backup by then, but I attacked anyways, tackling him and chocking him until he lost consciousness. I slowly stood up, like my body felt like it was filled with lead._

_I looked down the hall and stared for a few seconds, before running towards the possibility of freedom. I should have known that it wasn't going to happen._

_-End Flashback-_

I shook the memory from my head, curling myself into a tight ball under my covers and screamed through my frustration and anger. It was the best way to exhaust myself and get me to pass out. So, I screamed and continued to screamed until my throat was raw and my muscles ached from the small form I forced myself into. I think it was then, after I had completely exhausted myself, that I fell asleep for good.

I awoke to someone shouting my name and shaking me, "Danny! Danny! Wake up!"

I shot forward, smacking my head into theirs, only to fall back down on my pillow, groaning as I clutched the new sore spot on my forehead. I heard the other person groan in response to me before their face came into view. I blinked a few times before I focused on them.

"Wha- Dani? What are you doing in here?" I asked weakly. I wasn't really that surprised she was here I just wasn't expecting her to be the one to wake me up.

"It's breakfast, and you weren't up yet… I was coming to make sure you were awake." I raised an eyebrow, "Okay, Robin wanted to make sure you were still here." She huffed, having to tell me truth.

"Who else is awake?" I asked, my voice still sore from all the screaming last night, or I guess earlier this morning…

"Umm, well its nine thirty, so just Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and I think Raven but I'm not sure. She kinda came into the main room and then left while Cyborg and Robin were arguing. She might be on the roof... Oh and we're up too, I guess…"

I groaned. I didn't really want to face Raven at the moment, but I knew it was going to have to happen anyways, so I sucked it up and got out of bed, earning a gasp from my half ghost cousin. It took me a second to figure out why she was gasping until I realized that it was from the scars all along my body. It was bright enough for her to see all of them, there is a lot of them to take in at first glance.

"Danny?" I looked over at her, she was covering her mouth with her hands as she shakily continued, "Did- Did you get all of those f-from t-th-that place?"

"No, only the thicker ones. The rest are battle scars from when I was protecting my town from ghost attacks." I answered truthfully. Most of that is true, the small and less noticeable ones were from keeping Amity Park safe, for the most part. But, I needed to keep her sane as well, so I didn't tell her were I got everything. I forced another memory back down as I got dressed for the day. A simple black T-shirt and some gray gym shorts were all I really had left from the last time I was here. Not what I would have wanted to wear, but it covered everything that was more mind scaring effectively.

"Come on lets go down." I motioned, "I'm sure everyone wants to know that I'm still here."

"Yeah," she gulped, "I'm sure they do."

We walked silently to the main room for breakfast, not really looking at one another, though Dani kept sneaking glances at me the entire way. I held a blank face, but I knew she was trying to figure out how I wasn't effected by how marked up my body was. Honestly it was something that you learn to deal with, not that it didn't reenact painful memories, but you learn to accept that this is the way things are and you move on. It's as simple as that.

We arrived at the main room, the doors opened to Cyborg at the table with a bunch of papers, like he was researching something, while Robin and Starfire were on the couch. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at us when we walked in. I can't say I didn't squirm under each of their gazes, because I did, but I can say that it was only for a few seconds before Robin what up and walking in our direction.

"Hey, you're up. How you feeling?" He asked, he was being polite, and caring. Something I haven't had in so long… well, they were all of those things each time I was here, but I chose to ignore it, not accept it. That was probably my biggest mistake while I was here, but Robin was making an effort to try and start over, to give me a second chance, and I sure as hell wasn't going to waste it this time.

So I smiled back at him, "I'm okay I guess…" I cursed mentally at the hoarseness of my voice, and I knew Robin noticed it because of his frown and slightly narrowed eyes.

"What's up with your voice?" He asked. _Damn, why does he have to be so observant!_ Then I cursed myself again because I was supposed to be happy he was helping me. I sighed, only causing him to frown more, "What happened to it?"

"I… It…" I sighed in defeat, hanging my head as I continued, "I had a slight breakdown… I-I did a lot of screaming." I didn't bother to look up at their faces, I knew what they were going to be showing. Concern, shock, sadness. I wasn't going to be able to look at them and not want to disappear from sight, so I just continued to look at the floor as if there was something way more interesting to stare at.

"What do you mean "a breakdown"? like an episode?" Robin asked, there was definitely worry in his tone. I really didn't like disclosing this kind of information, but I had to. Because I told myself, no, I _promised_ myself that I would try to be more trusting of them. That I would let them help me. So I had to let them but telling them the stuff they need to know in order to help me.

"No. I-I had a flashback of trying to escape…" I continued to look at the floor, "Maddie and Jack had decided to test a new weapon on me right before that." It was so hard to just get that out, but to not stutter as I said that… That was a feat in itself. Again, I could easily guess what each person that was in the room was going to be expressing on their face.

"Danny, we aren't going to let them hurt you again. Ever. Okay?" A green gloved hand landed on my shoulder causing me to look up, "Okay. We are going to do everything in our power to make them pay for what they have done to you. I promise."

"Thanks." I mumbled, locking eyes with the boy wonder for a few seconds. I saw his small smile before he dropped his hand and began to make his way to the kitchen. I knew that he was going to be looking for something to help with my throat, but I already knew the answer to that.

Tea.

I love tea. It's so calming and taste great. I began to rummage through the cabinets looking for the tea stuff, smiling to myself when I found everything. I went into a sort of autopilot mode as I made my tea, luckily this make it easy to ignore the stares I'm sure I was getting. I sat against the counter, my arms crossed and my eyes on the floor as I waited for the water to boil. Normally, when you have a sore throat, you want something cold to numb it. Well, with my ghost core being an icy core, cold doesn't affect me that much, so I need to use hot liquids to do the job. Weird, I know, but it works so I don't complain. Plus its knocking out two birds with one stone, soothing my throat and calming me down.

The whistling sound of the kettle didn't seem that loud to me, but I assumed that was because I was lost in my thoughts. I wasn't really thinking about much… actually, everything that was floating though my head was random bits and pieces of stuff, none of it made any sense. I think I was actually glad the kettle had whistled when it did, because I was close to losing it again.

Note to self, meditate later. I poured the tea and added some honey to it to help sooth my throat. The honey infused herbal tea was working wonders on my throat, coating the rough surface of the back of my throat. I purred in happiness as the relief of the small amount of pain. Just then the doors opened to let someone either in or out of the room. I looked up, only to pale slightly at the new person.

Raven.

Crap.

We hadn't spoken to each other since the argument however long ago. I knew she hated me, but I needed to get her to trust me again. _But how?_ I asked that question to myself as I gently swirled the tea cup in my hand, and I had an epiphany. I turned around to find a cup for her, she liked herbal tea just as much as I did, so I decided to pour her a cup. I figured a nice gesture was the best way to start building up everything I had lost. I could tell she was walking towards me due to the light but slowly getting louder footsteps, as well as everyone was holding their breath from the interaction that was about to happen. I prayed silently that this would help mend the broken strings between us. Putting on a small but warm smile, I turned around just in time to hand her a freshly poured cup of tea…

And she walked right by me, not acknowledging me, not even looking in my direction, and went straight to the cabinet, pulled herself out a different cup and poured herself a cup of tea and headed over to the couch to look out the window, never even making some form or eye contact with any part of my being. Like wasn't there. Like I didn't exist. I figured she hated me, but that wasn't what I expected to happen. I mean she didn't even look at me. I felt my heart drop to the floor as I placed the untouched cup on the counter and looked back to the floor again. I guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up about everything being okay, that was a mistake on my part. My ears picked up the slightest change in her heartbeat along with her breathing as she sipped her tea. _Oh right! She's an empathy. She can sense the emotions from the people around her. Maybe she sensed how I felt about her ignoring me._ I mentally smacked myself, _didn't I just tell myself not to get my hopes up! God, I'm a fool for believing that I could fix this with something as simple as that! Maybe I should just- No. I just need to keep myself in check and everything will fall into place._ I looked up to see the others just staring at me, not sure what to make of the scene that just took place. I faked a small smile like everything was fine and grabbed a banana before I headed back to my room. Alone.

I'm sure how much time had passed before someone knocking at my door broke me out of my trance. I glanced up at the door, but decided to ignore it. I didn't want to talk to anyone right know. I really just wanted to be alone.

"Come on Danny! You have been in there for over four hours! And a banana and a cup of tea is not enough to help you recover. I know you can hear me! Open the door or I will phase though it and drag you back out to the main room!" It was Dani. Of course it was Dani. _Snap out of it Danny, they just want to help you. Why won't you let them help you!?_ I screamed at myself. True to her word, Dani had already phased through my door and was proceeding to drag me back to the main room. I sighed and stood up to follow her again, not saying anything as she began to talk about something. I didn't really pay attention to it, I just walked with her, wallowing in my sorrow.

**Raven POV**

I just finished my meditation session, and was currently heading down to get myself some tea and to relax in the common room. The big blueish gray doors opened to the common room and I saw everyone but Beast Boy in the room. Dani and Danny included. I feel the tension in the room from my entrance. I wasn't like I hadn't made it known that I didn't like Danny for his lies, but still, my team should have expected it at least. Or maybe that's why they were so tense. I shrugged it off and headed towards the kitchen, watching Danny out of the corner of my eye. The tension tripled in thickness as I approached the counter that he was at. I was maybe a few feet away when he turned around with a smile on his face and a cup tea in his outstretched hand. He obviously poured it for me. _Does he honestly think that a cup of tea will fix all his problems!_I didn't show it, but I scoffed at the absurd idea. So I ignored him, walking past him to the cupboard and pulling out my own cup, pouring my tea and left the kitchen, never once laying eyes on the teen behind me. I did feel his eyes trailing my every move, but I didn't care, and I continued to the couch, sitting down at the end and stared out the large windows while slowly sipping my tea.

What I didn't expect was to be hit with his emotions at full blast. I'm sure I showed some signs of shock from the sudden exposure, but I didn't think anyone noticed. He was utterly depressed at how I handled that situation. I almost felt bad about it, but he deserved it. Anger was next, but it wasn't directed at me, but at himself. For some reason happiness followed but was quickly squashed by self loathing. I shut it out and continued to sip my tea. My mind though, continued to follow him lightly as he left the room silently. I picked up the muttering of the others behind me, and even if I wanted to ignore it, I couldn't.

"That was harsh."

"He probably deserved it."

"I get that she is angry with him, but was that really necessary?"

"Please, why did friend Raven not say hi to friend Danny?"

"Probably because she hates him."

"I don't blame her."

I closed my eyes as they continued, trying to justify with myself that it was okay to do that to him. But that was getting harder and harder to do. Eventually, Robin had come over to talk to me, but I was done with my tea and I didn't want another lecture.

"I don't want to hear it, Robin." I said flatly.

"Raven, I know your upset but-"

"I said I don't want to here it!" And with that, I left for my room, another session of meditation was apparently necessary, along with a very _long_ talk with my emoti-clones.

* * *

**And, well, yeah. That's the chapter. The next one should be up by sometime next week! I hope! XD**

**So, I'll see you all then! Peace!**


	16. One Step at a Time

**I LIVE! Yay! I'm finally back! It only took me a month or so to finish this chapter...**

**Yeah, go ahead and throw your rocks or rotten tomato's or anything else you can get your hands on at me, I totally deserve it. In fact, I'll suply the stuff for you and throw them back so you can keep pelting me with them. I was doing things like golf, TKD, work, my parents were being hell-bent on keeping me away from my computer... but those aren't real excuse for taking as long as I did.**

**I'm sooooo sorry, I truly am. But I do get lazy sometimes and need a little push in the right direction. My friend was the one that kept getting me to write for you, so you can give her a big round of applause since I finally posted the next chapter.**

**I was at my grandparents for a week and they live out in the country, so I had no internet when I was there, and I just got back from Yosemite with my same friend that got me to post this chapter, so other then those two big trips, I don't really have anything to say for myself about not updating sooner. Especially since I thought it would be about a week and ended up being over a month. Yeah... really sorry about that.**

**I did have a TKD tournament on Saturday. Got first place in combat weapons sparring! Whoo-Hoo! And if you don't know what that is, I'll tell you. It's like sparring, but you hit your opponent with a blue foam stick. I think of it as an advanced version of whack-a-mole. And it is _FAST_! There is more to it then just hitting people with a stick though, but that takes a lot of explaining. I belong to ATA, or American Tae-kwon-doe Association, you can look it up if you want a better description of the event I was in, it should be on youtube or something. It's awesome! I love it. I have my 2nd degree black belt, which took about four years to get too. I should be getting my 3rd degree by next year...**

**But anyways, yeah, I'm really excited about that first place because I finally beat my friend after forever of losing to her in tournaments. Proud of myself for it! :)**

**Back to the good stuff, the thing you are all here for!**

**The next chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 16**

**Danny POV**

For the past few days I wasn't the most joyful person to be around, not like I'm ever a joyous or sunshine type of person, but that doesn't mean I don't have feelings. I can understand why everyone else is upset with me, but it doesn't mean that I'm not angry with them. I mean, come on, Robin told me that he explained exactly why I wasn't able to trust them at first! So yes, while I did lie, it doesn't mean I did it just to screw with their heads. _God! Why is life so unfair for me? It's like the universe hates me!_ I let out a small sigh, arguing with myself was going to get me nowhere. I need to just keep moving forward and hope for the best. Although _that_ seems like a damn near impossibility at the moment.

"Danny? Have you been listening to a word I've said?" a voice broke through, "Danny!" a hand waved vigorously in front of my face. I blinked a few times before reaching out and snatching the hand. I followed the hand up the body until I reached the face.

Dani.

"Yes, Dani?" I asked, no emotion in my voice or face as I stare into her eyes. I reached for my chest for like the millionth time to itch it again.

"Yes you heard me or yes as in you are asking me a question?"

"What did you want?" I answered, still scratching. _God, this was so irritating. Why am I so itchy?!_

She blew a strand of hair out of her face before looking at me again, "You need to start paying more attention to what's going on around you, you know. Not everyone is going to be as patient as me or Robin you know." I raised my eyebrows at her, motioning for her to continue, "Will you quit that! Clawing at your chest will not make the incisions go away any faster!" She shouted, gripping my other arm and pulling it away from its current location, "Anyways, Cyborg was planning on making a trip to the Titans East tower in a week and I was wondering if I could go with? Please! Cyborg said it would be a good idea to have them get used to a ghost and that they might need my abilities on the team! Please, please, please can I go!" she whined bouncing up and down as she continued to say please. _She wants to go across country to help Cyborg with the Titans East tower. Wait... there's a Titans East? When did- Oooohh, got it... Pay attention to surroundings. But seriously, he wants to take her there? I hope the GIW aren't there. I don't want her to be away from me, but she could be helpful to them…_

"Sure," I finally answered, "just be safe. No ghost powers unless you are on a mission! And I want you to call me every day…" I stated. _Great, now I sound like a parent… then again, she is my clone so I guess that makes me her father- Okay, way to creepy to think about, let's just leave it with us being no closer than brother and sister._ I had a good reason though, I didn't want her to get detected by the GIW like I was. Not that they were in the city, Robin has been hell-bent on keeping them out and everyone ranging from a police officer to your average three-year-old on the lookout for them.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She jumped up and down for joy, literally before another question popped into her head, "Why do I have to call you?"

"Because, I… I can't lose you too." I looked to the ground as I spoke, "You're the only family I have left, and if they take you from me, I… I don't want to become HIM. Not if I can prevent it myself." I whispering now, and second guessing my decision to let her go. I wasn't going to let her know that though, and I wasn't to thrilled now that I realized she could be in danger from the GIW now. I could already assume that she was sporting a puzzled look on her face from my last sentence. I knew what her next words were going to be.

"Him? Who's him? What are you talking about?" She asked, just like I had predicted. I still didn't meet her eyes, and I didn't want to answer that question, but I knew I was going to have to. "Danny?" She asked more forcefully, cupping my face and forcing me to look at her, "Who is HIM?"

"Someone I hope you _never_ have to meet." She seemed to know that my answer was all she was going to get out of me so she dropped her hands.

"Danny, I know you don't want to tell me but just know, I can handle it. And who knows, maybe I can help you with it, but just don't keep everything bottled up forever. Nothing will get better that way. Okay? Everyone in this tower is trying to hep you. Even if it doesn't seem like it." She reasoned. I held her gaze and nodded, I didn't want to tell anyone about HIM until it was possible that HE would actually show up. Not that it would actually matter, no one can stop him, other than me. And I only won by sheer dumb luck the last time.

"HE, is just a very touchy subject. I'll tell you about HIM when I feel up to it okay?" I spoke, earning a look of relief and understanding from her.

"Of course, I don't want you to feel like you're being forced to talk about your past. I can tell all of it is a touchy subject, but knowing that you will open up is a relief to me. I'll always be willing to listen when you need to talk. Okay?"

"Yeah, I hear you. Loud and clear." I decided to change the subject, not wanting everything focused on me at the moment, "You should go tell Cyborg the good news. I'm sure he'll want to know that you can go along with him." I told her, and she nodded with a big smile on her face. She gave me a quick hug before bolting out of the room. Yep, I'm not going to let her go without knowing just who is on this team. She won't like that... but that's life I guess.

I sighed, knowing I was going to regret that decision somehow, so I shook my head and leaned back on the couch while staring back out the large window that overlooked the bay. I stared at it for a few minutes before I decided to play some video games. Everyone that would talk to me was not in the immediate vicinity, I mean Robin was out patrolling for the GIW or something while Dani was with Cyborg, and I had no idea were Starfire was, so I was alone, but I didn't want to be cooped up in my room. I don't mind locking myself in my room, but that isn't the best way to get the rest of the team to start trusting me again. The familiar sensation returned in the core of my body, and I reach up to sooth it. Not that it helped, actually it was slightly painful, but I scratched at it anyways.

The giant doors opened again, "Don't scratch at it!" Dani yelled as if she could read my mind, before the doors closed again, signaling that she had left for good. I sighed again, removing my hand. The pain wasn't that bad, and a lot less then…

_No! Don't think about that!_ I scolded myself, and forced the memory back down into a deep and dark corner of my mind. I caught sight of a lone game controller and a small grin formed on the corners of my mouth as I moved towards the couch. I turned on the game system and started play a street fighter game, I didn't really pay attention to the name, just that I got to beat the crap out of people in the game. Sometimes I would cheat a phase myself into the game if I was angry enough, but not today, I just wanted to pass some time with a mindless gaming time. I picked a guy that looked like a ninja and began the game.

It seemed like I played that game for a few hours, but it when I checked the clock, it had only been forty minutes or so. I sighed, and decided to play a different game. I think I grabbed Call of Duty or something like that. A shoot'em up game, and started the campaign on a difficult level setting, and started. I think I played for another half hour before I heard the large doors to the main room, announcing that someone had entered the room. Craning my neck, I noticed Beast Boy making his way to the couch. I paused the game, saving it, and exited out. I put the controller down and moved to get up, letting Beast Boy have free reign over the xBox.

"Are you done playing?" He asked, almost in a whining, depressed tone. I did a double take, looking to the green figure next to me. I wasn't able to real grasp the fact that he was talking to me. Normally he took the controller and played whatever game after I moved away from the couch.

"Hello? Are you there?" He whined, staring at me. I was in shock, but somehow managed to answer.

"I… uh… are you talking to... me?" _That was intelligent, real smooth Danny._

"Oh, yeah, I was just wondering if you wanted to do a two player, but if not…" he trailed off, scratching the back of his head while I was still staring at him, not sure if I was dreaming. I pinched myself just to make sure I was in a real life situation before answering.

"Um, sure… but I thought you hated me."_ Wow, I'm just on a roll aren't I?_

"No, I'm just as upset that you lied to us, but I think I'm understanding why you did. We shouldn't be hard on you for not trusting us like after what you went through. I mean what kind of people would that make us for forcing you to trust us right after all that happened to you." He explained, a sad smile on his face. I hesitantly walked back over to the couch and sat down next to him, not taking my eyes off him as I did so. I never really thought of him as this mature, he always seemed like a goofy kid, kind of like me before my life fell apart... It just caught me off guard a bit.

"You don't have to pretend you know. I'm sorry that I hurt all of you…"

"Dude, relax. I'm the one that should be apologizing to you. I mean, you went though some crazy crap and are still alright for the most part." I eyed him curiously for a few more seconds before a controller was harshly but eagerly, pushed into my hands, "Come on, I haven't played this game in forever."

I was still frozen at the action. There was some sort of catch right, I mean he isn't the best at video games. Maybe he is just using me to beat a level, then going to ignore me again.

"Dude, you may be part ghost, and that may cause me to be cautious around you," He said, I gave him a weird look before he continued, "But you are also part human and with me being part animal, the animal instincts I have are telling me that you are sad. Relax, I meant what I said. You've been moping around the tower like a lost puppy. You had every right to not trust us when we first met, it's our fault for blowing it out of proportion. I guess I'm trying to say is that I am sorry for the way I've been treating you recently."

I was bursting with happiness, though I didn't show it… Much. But I was feeling a little better about how this whole situation was starting to get better each day that went by.

"So… we cool?" Beast Boy squeaked, catching the small grin on my lips that was slowly getting larger.

I nodded with a very large grin, "Yeah, we're cool." And I picked up the controller in my hands as we started a new game in the co-op mode. Both of us were working as a team to take down the enemy soldiers, shouting at each other like we have been best friends forever. It was great. I think we almost beat the game before someone walked into the room.

"Danny, behind you!" Beast Boy called out.

"I got him, I got him!" I reassured BB as I took out the enemy gunner behind my character. We both continued sniping the other gunners and riflemen and ended up beating the game.

"Yes! High Five!" Beast Boy shouted, I reached up and slapped his hand as we beat the game. It was then that we realized someone was watching us. The red, green, and yellow colors of the uniform I caught in my peripheral vision told me it was Robin. I caught Robin's facial expression was priceless. He was staring at us wide-eyed and slack-jawed. I held back a chuckle at his expression, putting together why he would have been so perplexed at the scene before him.

"Are you okay?" I asked, walking over to him, "You look a little lost."

"Yeah, just didn't expect… this… when I walked into the room. But I'm glad you guys are getting along." He said, a grin eventually appearing on his lips. I grinned back, and honestly, I was excited. Things were starting to look up, and that was always a good feeling.

And then, that feeling disappeared as the familiar sound of the doors to the main room opened.

I'm sure you could guess who walked into the room, right? Well I'm sure you would have guessed correctly. It was Raven. I mean of course it was her. Not that it was a bad thing…

Shut up! I know your laughing at me.

Everyone got real quiet as she strolled over to the kitchen, grabbed an apple, and left the room again. The breath that had been held by everyone, was released at the same time.

"She still won't acknowledge you, huh?" Beast Boy asked. I sent him a look that said _don't even go there_. I did feel bad about that, but I didn't really feel like explaining why but I answered his question anyways.

"No, she won't. And it's frustrating too because it's not all my fault either!" I shouted, tightening my fists. _God this is so frustrating, I get it. Okay. I really do, but does she have to take it to this extreme! Doesn't she know that it wouldn't have been easy for me to trust people after going though that! I mean, half of the people here are understanding that. Why can't she! Not even Sam-_

That stopped every thought dead in its tracks.

Sam.

I closed my eyes as I relived the glory days, her and Tucker by my side as we hung around town or had a monster movie marathon at Sam's house. It hurt to know I couldn't save them, that I could never see them again. See them smiling, or laughing, or anything any more... But why, after all this time, would I still be broken after that... Why, when it's been a good few months that I would remember the impact and dependence they had on my life. Maybe because they were the only friends I had, or because of the secrets we held and the things we knew that others didn't. I though I was moving on, but now I'm second guessing everything about my life, about them. Now I felt guilty. I forgot. I forgot about them and my subconscious brought it back to the forefront of my mind. Like it was warning me, trying to protect me.

But protect me from what? That was the big question. Maybe I should just back off and just try to be Raven's friend first. It did seem to work out for me and Sam... _Focus, breathe, just relax and calm down. _That is going to be my focus from now on, just take everything one step at a time. If we get there great if not, if shouldn't get all worked up over of it. First step, get on the talking level with everyone first. Like I said, one step at a time and slowly raise the bar each time, don't put it at an unreachable goal as the first step. Like they always say, slow and steady wins the race.

"Whoa, Danny, take it easy." Robins voice cut though my thoughts, "It will take a lot longer for Raven to forgive you, but she will come around. I promise. You just have to see her side of things." Robin intervened, he must have sensed my aggravation... Or noticed that I was losing circulation in my fingers from how tightly clenched my fists were. I slowly released my death grip on the air and allowed the tingling sensation to travel though my fingers as they regained feeling.

"I do. Okay. I do, I just- Can't she sense my emotions and see how hurt I am! I mean, she knows what happened to me, why was I so- Arrg!" I screamed in frustration again, forming fists with my hands again. This time, however, I slammed my fists down hard on the counter behind me, "Why is life so unfair for me? Why? Why me?" I whispered softly, turning back to the other boys in the room. I studied their expressions, the sullen look that told me everything I needed to know. I dropped to the floor, my legs sprawled out in the most comfortable position I could think of as I leaned against the island counter-top, staring at the floor. My mind wandered as the two teens conversed on what to try and do to help me. Not that they even knew the real reason for my frustration, but I wasn't about to dive into that subject with them at this moment, not because I didn't trust them, but more for the fact that it was still too painful to bring up those memories to the forefront of my mind, to have to relive them again only to know that they were just that. Memories and nothing else.

"Danny," Robin called calmly. They must have reached a conclusion about something or else they wouldn't have been talking to me, so I perked up slightly to let him know I was listening, "everything will work out, just give it time. But, for now, we should check on your wounds, see how everything is healing up. Okay?" Robin asked, gripping my shoulder softly pulling me out of my trance like state. I looked up at him and nodded, not really wanting to talk anymore. Slowly I stood up, using the counter and chairs for support, before I followed the Boy Wonder and Beast Boy out of the room and to the medical bay. Robin had contacted Cyborg and told him about the check up, he didn't seem too pleased about it but he said he would be there.

Honestly, I've been avoiding this room as much as possible, and by extent, not letting them check my wounds. Not a smart move, I know, I know, but I really don't like that room. There have been one to many incidents in it and not to mention that I've been in so many ones just like it that I just don't want to have to relive each and every memory that comes with those types of rooms. I literally have to tell myself that I'm in the Titan's tower and that I'm perfectly safe, but that still doesn't make it any easier for me to be in there.

We arrived before Cyborg, shocker, and Robin had me sit on one of the beds. Like I said, I wasn't all that thrilled about being in this room again, but I felt somewhat safe with Robin and Beast Boy here with me. Then again, I was very poorly convincing myself that I was safe, even if I was mumbling to myself a little bit. Robin and Beast Boy seemed to notice this but didn't say anything. I was thankful for that, it would have just made me feel worse about the whole ordeal. It was quiet, very quiet in the room, other than my occasional muttering as we all waited anxiously for Cyborg to walk in. And here he is now, a blank face as he head towards us, his eyes trained on Robin.

"Alright, what is it that we need to look at?" He hashed out, his gaze still not leaving Robin. I jumped slightly, it was a very similar tone to what they would use when I was in for a checkup. I shivered at the thought and shook it off as best I could without drawing their attention to me.

"Just to make sure everything is healing properly. But I have noticed that he seems to scratch himself around the incision marks…"

"Hmm, it could just be the stitches dissolving. Or he is having a reaction to them as they dissolve," He eyed me before speaking again, "Aright, let's take a look. Danny, you're going to have to take off your shirt so that I can get to your bandages."

I nodded slowly, not really wanting to expose myself anymore, but I knew I had to. Reluctantly, I reached for the collar of my shirt and eventually phased it off. That was just my shirt, I knew it could and would get worse. And I was right, Cyborg reached for the gauze cutters and I nearly had a heart attack, and petrified in place as he walked towards me. The cold metal against my skin was too much, and I slapped the tool away, hearing it scrap against the tile floor before stopping on the other side of the room all while I backed myself into the corner of the bed, forcing the memories back into that same dark corner.

"Dude, he's freaking out, and has been freaking out since we got here, muttering to himself. You gotta be gentle with him. I mean he's freaking traumatized just being in this room! Here, watch this," Beast Boy interfered, moving Cyborg out of the way while grabbing the tool from the other side of the room. Picking it up and turning towards me, he continued only he was talking to me in a calm and safe tone, "Danny, dude. It's just me, Beast Boy. I'm not gonna hurt you. We just want to make sure your healing properly. Okay? Nothing bad is going to happen to you."

"You… Promise?" and I win the award for the most insane. Yay me. Cyborg and Robin were both sporting flabbergasted looks, not that I was paying attention to them anyway.

"Yes, I'm just going to cut the wrappings off so that we can check to make sure your okay." He finally reached me and slowly moved the scissors closer to my side, all while continuing to whisper sweet words to keep me calm. My eyes followed his every move, at least until the metal reached my skin, then I squeezed my eyes shut and turned my head away from him as I heard the snipping of the scissors while it cut though the cloth wrapped around my torso. "You're doing fine dude, just a little more… and you're done. See! Nothing bad happened. Just like I promised."

I felt the pressure from the gauze release as it was slowly peeled away from me. I opened one eye and watched their movements as the analyzed my dissection marks. They all now looked puzzled, like they couldn't figure out if something was wrong or not. So I took a chance and looked at my newly acquired cuts. It was slightly red and inflamed. Not a pretty sight.

"Cyborg, do you think the stitching could have been soaked in a chemical that's harmful to ghosts?"

"It's possible, I mean I just grabbed what was provided, I was too caught up in trying to stitch him back up to worry about anything else. I can run some tests on the stitches, maybe see it there is anything going on or if it's just a mild infection." Cyborg looked at me in the eyes as he told me what he was going to do next, "Okay, Danny. You are going to need to relax, I need to take a sample of the stitching, so-"

I cut him off with a harsh glare. He was not getting another pair of scissors close to me again. One was more than enough and that was final. Robin cleared his throat, ending our stare down motioning for Cyborg to drop it before turning back to me and signaling the same thing.

"Robin's right, but we should let _that_ get some fresh air. I don't think you let us change it for a few days, so it desperately needed some. All the moisture that the gauze held in wasn't good for your wound." Cyborg trailed off, moving to the other side to check on the whip marks, "But your back is looking really good. Raven really did a good job closing that up, all I can see is a few open sores, but those are almost closed and the rest are just scars."

Robin turned and rummaged through one of the cabinets and pulled a bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide and handed it to Cyborg, "We should put some of this on his wounds to clean out any possible bacteria in the sores that could turn into infections from leaving the wrappings on for so long."

"Good idea Robin," Cy grabbed the bottle and a few cotton balls from a different drawer before turning to me, "This might sting a bit."

I watched as he took a cotton ball and pressed it on the top of the bottle and inverted the bottle so some of the solution was soaked up into the little white ball. He flipped it right side up, removing the cotton ball and placing the bottle on the table before moving towards me, placing the cotton ball against the right side of my Y shaped incision on my chest. It stung a lot, but I just gritted my teeth and endured it, not wanting to make anything worse. The cotton ball was cool to the touch due to the antiseptic on it, but I could feel the tingling feeling a few seconds after the cotton ball continued to move down the cut, feeling the cleansing that was taking place. It made the pain worth it, knowing it was helping me. But it still stung.

Cyborg repeated this process like twelve times, and that was just my chest, he hadn't gotten to my back yet. It was the same sort of feeling when he repeated the same process five more times to clean my back. While everything did sting, a lot, I felt much better and didn't itch anymore. That was a relief. Beast Boy seemed to sense my relief, and in turn, calmed down a little… or maybe I just looked happy, either way he still noticed.

"Feeling better?" Robin asked, I just smiled at him, _Wow, I just smiled, there has to be something wrong with me… Or I'm finally losing it… Yeah, I'm thinking I'm close losing it._

"Oh my god, he's smiling. Dude!" Beast Boy exclaimed, totally forgetting that he was in the room, even though I was just looking at him. _Damn it, pay attention to surroundings. Need to keep doing that._ I mentally reminded myself.

"He probably feels much better, I would too if I was able to take those things off after a few days." Robin said, "So, it's almost noon, you want some lunch, Danny?" Before I could answer, my stomach answered for me. So I just smiled again and nodded. "Okay. Let's see what we can cook up for lunch."

We all left the room and headed back to the kitchen. Cyborg wouldn't rewrap me until after lunch, saying I needed to let the wounds air out for a bit. Not that I blame him, I didn't really want to cover them up again anyways, but he luckily let me at least put a tee-shirt on, so everyone wouldn't stare at me. He threw me a loose fitting one that felt really weird to me, but I wasn't complaining, so long as I could hide the scars I was happy.

"So, Danny… Your cousin told me you would let her come with me to the Titans East tower." Cyborg struck up, probably to get my mind off of the medical room. I do have to say, it worked because I looked up at him with a serious face. He must have thought I was angry because he flinched for a second before straightening out again.

"Yes, but now I'm not so sure I want her to go. She is the only family I have left and I don't want anything to happen to her." I said, showing the seriousness of the situation, even though it was just a small road trip.

"Actually, that's a good idea, they could use her abilities and I'm sure Bumblebee would love to have another girl in the tower." Robin interjected, looking up from the sandwich he was making.

"She's not staying!"

"Dude no one said she was staying…" I interrupted Cyborg with a glare, "Okay… she's not staying. But, Bumblebee said they were having a ghostly issue recently, and they can't seem to get rid of it. Hence why I suggested she come with…"

"Cyborg's right, if they need help with ghosts, Dani… your cousin, should go with to help out."

"If there is a ghost problem, I'll go. She is not-"

"You are in no condition to help them out." Robin cut me off, "I appreciate the offer, but I won't let you go. Not with the GIW so focused on finding and capturing you again-"

This time I cut him off, "If you thought what they did to me was bad, you have no idea what they would do to her! They would have a _field_ day learning about her! I will _NOT_ let that happen, I will not put her in that kind of danger!" I was referring to the fact that she was a clone, a tiny slip up, but they caught it.

"Why would they have a field day, you two are the same, I mean other that the fact that she is a girl… Why would that make a difference? Unless there is more to her than you are letting on?" Robin inquired. _Well damn, okay how to get out of this one… or just tell them it's not my place to tell them. It's not lying to them, and it is the truth, Dani being a clone is not my secret to tell._

"Well?" Robin asked when I took too long to respond.

"It's not my place to disclose that information. Just know it will be ten times worse for her then it was for me. If she wants to tell you why, fine, but I won't give away her secret. It's not my place to do that." I stated bluntly, staring at the counter even though she did give away mine. Granted, she figured that I was able to trust other hero's so it was a logical assumtion, but what she didn't know was that I wasn't capable to trust them at the beginning, and for some things in my past, I still didn't want them to know about. Dan being at the top of the list.

"That seems fair enough to me, I don't know about you two, but it makes sense that he would keep her secret until she wanted to tell us herself." And for the third time today, Beast Boy baffled me. Guess he could be more understanding than I originally gave him credit for. That was good to know.

"Regardless, I still think it would be a good idea to spread out your guys abilities. And the Titan's East need the help. Why don't we set up a trial run, see how well she gets along with the team before we-" I shot Robin a quick glare, making him correct his statement, "Before _you_ decide whether or not she should stay."

"She's like a little sister to you isn't she?" Cyborg asked, though it was more of a statement then question. I think he was understanding my position, or I'm imagining things.

"Our relationship is more complicated than that, but you could say that. I guess I'm just really protective over her because she is really all that I have left." I answered, gradually getting quieter during the second sentence, crossing my arms around myself for comfort rather than out of frustration.

"What if we set up an interview of sorts… To see if you would trust them enough?" Robin asked, passing me the sandwich he made and started on another one for himself, while BB and Cyborg began to work on getting their own lunch prepared. I pondered that idea for a few seconds, weighing the pros and cons of the idea, and eventually seeing no harm with it.

"That will work. If I don't like just ONE of the team members, she does not go. And that is final." The others just nodded.

"I send Bee a quick message about the screen chat, letting her know about the possibility of a new team member." Cy said, fiddling with his arm for a few minutes before a beeping sound confirmed that the message had been sent.

"Guess that means I should get a haircut…" I muttered to myself, running a hand though my hair. It was really long now, dropped between my shoulder blades on my back, a third of my natural hair color showing, and was probably about to the length of how I use to style it before all this craziness happened. You know, the shaggy style I had when I was fourteen… I could also see the blue streaks fading while the front was at least to my collar bone. Basically, I was looking like a girl. _I think I should just shave it all off, back to my original style when I was fourteen._ I had my mind made up, now I just needed to get to a barber shop.

"That's probably a good idea." Robin mused, rubbing his chin. The big question was when, I knew it needed to be soon, but I didn't know how soon.

"Why don't we just take him to a super cuts or something after lunch and have them just buzz cut it." Beast Boy offered. I stared at him, practically mortified at the idea of a buzz cut.

"That could work, but judging by his facial expression, I don't think he wants a buzz cut." Cyborg laughed. _Umm, NO!_

"Why don't we finish lunch and rewrap him before we decide on anything." Robin said, being the reason of the group. They seemed to nod in agreement. After lunch, Cyborg decided not to rewrap me, saying the wounds needed more air time due to the lack of oxygen that they had been getting. Honestly, I think he was beginning to warm up to me, maybe not fully there but farther along than Raven was. That made me smile.

So now, a half of an hour later, I was with the three guys in front of a practically empty Great Clips getting ready to cut most of this mane, in which I hadn't bothered to tame in a while, off. The bell chimed as we walked thought the door. One of the ladies that was free walked up to the register and asked her usual speech while Robin, I think it was him, explained to her about some things that could make me a little jumpy. I ignored it all, standing behind the other three and closer to the exit as I waited, examining the building for any escape routes and other things. I was then ushered back to one of the seats and sat me down while she examined my hair muttering to herself that it was mostly destroyed, not thinking that I could hear her, and tried to figure out a good solution while getting me prepped for the simple task that was my hair. Or what would seem like a simple task, eventually she began to study my face and hair type when her face light up with an idea. She grabbed a spray bottle and began to work, and again, I tuned everything out. I heard the sharp clicking sounds of footsteps to my left, and recognized them as Robin's combat boots, and realized every muscle in my body was tight and flexed.

"Danny?" Robin's voice soothed me enough to relax a little more, but it wasn't until Robin told the stylist that I had a traumatic past and that was why I was tense and not responding to her. She understood and ended up just chatting with Robin while working on my hair. I could hear the snipping of the scissors as locks of hair in multiple colors fell to the ground around me. She spun me around and away from the mirror when all the blond was cut from my hair, that's when she really started to work. I watched the scissors like a hawk, going cross-eyed a few times, but eventually she set them down and grabbed the blow dryer to get rid of the excess hair that was sticking to me and the tarp thing wrapped around my neck, as well as fingering my hair like a sculptor would when adding the final touches to their sculpture.

I was quickly spun back around to see the final product and I have to say, it worked. She explained to me that it was a simple cut beachy type cut, or also known as the skater style. It worked, she said I was lucky that the bleached part of my hair had grown out and left enough hair for this kind of cut. She also told me it was easy to maintain and that I could air dry and finger comb it. Not to mention that my head felt so much lighter now that most of the weight was gone. I gave my hair a quick flip to the left, and she said that was another thing I would be doing with this cut, but I didn't mind. It was much easier than pulling it back with my hands or tying it back with a hair tie. I gave myself a small smile, I was actually beginning to look like myself. A low whistle sounded though the shop causing me, and the other two, to turn towards the sound.

"Dude, nice. Looks like someone will be back in action really soon." Beast Boy commented, a smug grin on his face. Cyborg was wearing a very similar expression. I was now curious what would happen to my ghost form now that three quarters of my hair was cut off. But I could do that later. I walked back to the counter to pay, and apologized for being a little rude about not really talking to her, and then we headed back to the tower.

The first person to see my new hair cut in the tower was Dani. And she was ecstatic, seeing as how she almost tackled me. I say almost because Robin and Cyborg stepped in front of me somewhat blocking her path to me. She was let through though, and she gave me a light hug.

"It's about time." She pulled away, "I was beginning to miss the old you. And you were starting to look like a girl." She joked, messing with my new hair. I pulled out of her reach and fingered through it before giving it another flip, putting it back into place. I wasn't back to my old self just yet, there was still a long way to go before that happened, but I understood what she was getting at. I was slowly but surely I was coming back.

"Well, now that we are all here, Danny-"

"Yeah?" the both of us responded at the same time, causing Cyborg to pause, forgetting that we both have the same name, "What?" Again, we synchronized.

"I was talking to boy Danny. You know we are really going to need to come up with nicknames or something for you to, but anyways, I wanted to ask when the best time for you to interview the Titans East? Bee sent me a message asking when we would be calling them?" Cy explained.

"Interview? Really Danny? You said that I could go! You can't just trust that I'll be fine?" Dani whined angrily, crossing her arms and staring at me with a slight glare.

"No. I can't. You and I both know it would be ten times worse for you if the GIW got a hold of you. I have to make sure that you will be safe with them." I lectured, hinting at a sore spot, I knew that by the way she flinched but I needed to get _that_ point across.

"Again with the cryptic message." Beast Boy mumbled to himself. Robin and Cyborg just raised an eyebrow.

"You're right. It would be worse for me, but that doesn't mean that you have to _remind_ me of _why_ and give a crappy speech just so you could protect me 24/7, Danny. I will be fine, plus, they don't even know I exist. Cyborg and the Titans East will be there to protect me as well. I will be fine." Dani argued back. Everyone else was just confused on the hidden secret, but I knew that she was right. She would be safe, but that didn't mean I still wanted her to leave and go that far away.

"I'm sorry." Her glare disappeared as I continued, "I didn't mean to- I just…" she cut me off when she began to understand why I was being so protective, pulling me into a hug.

"I know. You told me earlier, you can't lose me because we are all the other has left. I'm sorry too; I know you just want to keep me safe." She hushed, "But I can take care of myself. I did for three years without an incident; I think I can survive a week with Cyborg and a few new Titans."

"Not to break up the bonding moment, but I do need an answer to send to Bee." Cyborg interrupted, but I could hear in his tone that it was urgent and that he was a little sorry about his interruption.

"Right. Umm… How about 5'ish tonight? That's what, in an hour or so." I decided, planning on showering and cleaning up just a little before I talked to this other team. Cy messed with his arm a little which I assumed was him sending the message.

"Okay, they'll be ready by five. I hope you know what you are going to ask them." Cy stated.

"Yeah, I do have a general idea. I just going to shower and get a little cleaned up before the meeting… so uh, yeah…" I said, inching my way to the door. They seemed to either not care, or not hear me, and I successfully made my escape to the bathrooms. Damn did that shower feel good. Not only that but the steam and hot water helped me relax and clear my head. The hot water rolling over the scars and incision marks stung a little, but I was able to ignore it. It was a good sort of stinging, the hot water felt like it was boiling any sort of bacteria that could have possible gotten into and be growing my wounds. When I got out, I could see the healing process of it all, and Cyborg was right, it was healing nicely. There were still going to be scars, ectoranium always left a scar, but I think that thanks to Raven's healing abilities, they weren't going to be _as_ prominent. The ones on my back for sure, but my chest would look the same due to the other fifteen or so times that they cut me open. It could have been more, or less, I didn't really care, the pain all seemed to just meld together after a while.

I realized that I didn't bring any clean cloths into the bathroom with me, so I invisibly walked to my room with the towel wrapped around my waste. I dropped the invisibility as I closed the door to my room and scoured the place for a fresh pair of cloths. I had one outfit left. Just one. Thank the lord. It was a black muscle t-shirt and some gray jeans, I put on my belt with my DP belt buckle logo and added my black sneakers. I found a pair of Oakley sunglasses, don't ask because I have no idea how they got there, and a silver vest. I placed the sunglasses on my head backwards, making it look like there were eyes in the back of my head and walked back to the main room, I had about 45 minutes to spare so I sat at the table and thought some more on what I planned on asking this team that Dani may or may not be rooming with. I jumped when the TV screen started ringing, meaning it was time to talk to the Titans East.

"Hey Sparky, long time no see?" Bumblebee said over the screen, I remember her from the underwater mission… I don't really remember much of that though, probably had something to do with almost drowning myself…

"Hey Bee, good to see ya! So, how has your day been so far? Tower still needing help?" Cyborg asked.

"Yeah it does, unfortunately. Your still coming over this weekend right? Bringing the new girl right? Dani, I think her name was?" I watched the normal interaction between the two teams as more of each member came into view of the others screen, Dani showing up last. Well all of them but me, I was busy watching how everyone acted with each other, gathering the vibes they seemed to give off during this little chat. There were four boys, FOUR, in that tower. Granted two of them are Spanish speaking midget's that looked no older than eight years old, but the other two were around Dani's age. That was a con right there. The one was the fish boy with the blue, black, and white wet suit, Aqualad I think his name was. He was also there for the underwater mission. The other teen looked a lot like Robin, but with red hair, a quiver on his back, and a S in the place of where Robin R usually is. His name is Speedy. Don't ask, I don't get that one either, but whatever. They seemed to be excited to have Dani on the team, or possibly having Dani on the team. I think that's who they thought they were suppose to be talking to for the interview, but oh this was going to be good when I randomly show up about of nowhere.

"So that's it, we just gotta wait until you both arrive and we got ourselves a new team-mate? Sweet!" Speedy exclaimed. I decided to make myself know then.

"Not exactly." I turned visible next to Robin, it was priceless to their reactions. I held in my laughter though, but not without releasing a small smirk.

"Whoa, wait I know you. You the guy that was in the tower when I asked for the Titans help with Brother Bloods underwater headquarters. " Aqualad recognized me, but the name he threw out wasn't the correct one, "James right. Hey Bee, you remember him right?"

Everyone cringed slightly at the use of my cover name, but the other team didn't seem to notice.

"Yeah, I remember you, you almost drowned saving the place. How you been, James?" Bumblebee asked me. Again everyone cringed, and this time Bee noticed, "What?"

"First off, that's not my name. I was trying to hide from some people because that was a cover name. My real name is Danny. And I'm the one you were supposed to talk to, not her." I set the record straight as I motioned to my cousin/sister. She was currently giving me the _we-are-so-talking-about-you-almost-drowning-later_ look. Right, I never told her about that. Oops.

"There's two of you?!" I face palmed, Cyborg didn't tell them about that… I shot him a glare before setting the record straight again.

"Yes. There is two of us. Her name is Dani with an I, short for _Danielle._ Mine is Danny with a Y, short of _Daniel._ Cyborg didn't mention that little fact did he?" I inquired, them shaking there heads no was enough proof for me.

"So we aren't allowed to know about his past, but he can learn anything he wants about us? No fair!" the Spanish speaking duo commented. I chuckled as I understood what they were complaining about. Thanks to Wulf, I semi-understood Spanish.

"That's exactly what's going to happen, so get over it." I stated, smirking.

"Wait, how is that fair? I mean, he could ask us personal things but we can't-" Speedy started to complain, only for Robin to cut him off.

"It does seem unfair, but trust us, you don't need to know about his past. It is one of those things that will haunt you in your nightmares." Robin vaguely warned.

"Still not fair…" Speedy mumbled.

"Yeah, well life isn't fair, so build yourself a bridge and get over it." I retorted, crossing my arms. I was getting annoyed with Speedy. Sure, it wasn't fair, but how would they like it if they had to be experimented on and sliced open like a frog. I would have gladly taken this over what I lived though any day.

A hand made itself known on my shoulder, followed by Robin's voice, "Danny, calm down. You don't need to get angry with them."

"I know. They don't know anything, and I would personally like to keep it that way unless it was necessary." I whispered back. Cyborg and Beast Boy stepped up to explain.

"Dudes, he's been though a lot recently…"

"Yeah, he's not exactly use to trusting very easily. Believe me, if we had know why before this past month, well, it never would have happened that's for sure."

"Oh, Sparky, I have been meaning to ask you about that? What was all of that about? The government break in and break out thing… the GIW I think they were called?" I flinched at the sound of their names, closing my eyes and taking deep breaths while telling myself it was just a name. I did calm myself down, but not before anyone noticed my unusual reaction.

"Is he okay?" I heard Aqualad speak up.

"He'll be fine. Just reliving painful memories. Nothing to traumatic what-so-ever." Raven's monotone voice answered, though I could hear the sarcasm that was dripping off her words. But, did she just help me…

"Raven, you know-"

"It's called sarcasm, Beast Boy. Learn it." She quipped, before turning back to the screen, "He is dealing with past traumatic and horrific memories and experiences. Not to mention he hates them with a fire burning passion, you would too if you went though the same things as his suffered though." I watched the few wondering thoughts go though their heads as they tried to understand the meanings behind Ravens words. And again, did she just try to help me out?

"Sparky?"

"I don't think he will let me tell you anything about that… Not that I want to have to retell it. It's not a pretty story. Actually, it's really gruesome."

"That's what you guys said when I asked about him the first time. Now that I can see some of the damage myself, I don't think I want to know the truth. It seems like it would be something from a horror movie." Aqualad stated, proving Cyborg's point about my past. I didn't want to deal with this anymore. I wanted, no, _needed_ to change the subject before the images began flashing though my head reminding me of those long, horrendous months of inhuman torture and painful experiments. I shivered at the thought. I heard a groan next to me.

"Either change the subject or get him out of the room. Now preferably. I do _not_ want to have to stop another episode." I heard Raven grunt. She must be feeling what I was feeling. I knew that must suck, so I decided I would answer her request, indirectly if I had to. I wasn't able to ask what I wanted, but I needed to leave, so I had to trust that what I had observed was enough.

"Danny? You doing okay?" I heard my cousin/sister ask. She was concerned, I could hear it very clearly in her voice, "Danny?"

"I should leave. This is going nowhere, and I don't want to keep seeing _their _faces every time I blink." I spat the last part out with venom lacing each word. I took a deep breath before I continued, "Besides, I don't see the need to continue this anymore, they are all hero's anyways. I got all I needed from watching both teams interacting with each other earlier anyways."

"So… She can stay here… with us?" I heard Bee ask, lots of excitement in her tone.

"Yeah, sure… whatever. Just don't make me regret that decision." I warned as I turned to leave the room, hoping to scope out a quiet place to collect my thoughts and cool down.

**Raven POV**

Yeah, the meeting with my emoticlones didn't help me what so ever yet again. It's been the fifth time I've been to nevermore this week and they haven't given me squat. Then there is this whole deal with Danny. Don't even get me started on that. Everything was just a big mess, and I had no idea how to sort through it. I was like I was stranded in the middle of nowhere were no sense of direction to help get me home. I did know that the others were starting to trust him more and more, and his cousin was just another bright bundle of joy, but at least she was honest about everything from the beginning. The words from earlier today with my emoticlones rang though my head;

_"Can you really expect him to be forthcoming about who he really is after going through all of that? It's not really fair to him, he was stripped of his ability to trust people and you wanted to just be willing to give you anything about himself immediately? What kind of person does that make us? We didn't trust our friends with some of our secrets at first, and for some of them, we still don't trust our teammates with? So why should you make him trust us after something like that? It would just make us a hypocrite…"_

God, Wisdom can really make you see the other side of things at times. I really didn't want to agree with her, even if part of that was true. The whole half-demon thing was not something I wanted to share with my team, that and the fact that I was supposed to destroy the world because my father, Trigon, created me just to do that. _Gah! Great, now I'm agreeing with her._ I took a deep breath to calm myself as I began to mule over her speech again. This past week has not been the best of sorts either. I guess I partially forgave him, but I can't get myself to actually do it personally. To actually go up and talk to him. That was really annoying, and I usually have no problem saying what needs to be said. It's like I was rewired and set to passive mode. Admittedly, I didn't talk to him for a good week, but I was also pissed and confused about what to do.

That never happens.

Yet, that's how I felt. It was like a repeat of the Terra thing, but at the same time, it wasn't. And that's probably what confused me the most. His actions brought up so many different memories and emotions that it just overwhelmed me and I couldn't think straight. Robin would try to get me to talk about it, and I would push him away because I didn't want to open up. All because I was still trying to make sense of things. Of course, it's only now that I see I could have fixed all of this a lot sooner but just talking to someone… anyone for that matter. But no, I had to be my stubborn and secluded self and push everyone away. As I recall each time I had come into some form of contact with Danny, whether it was in the hallways or the main room, I didn't know what to do and I just ignored him. Not the best course of action now that I look back at it, there were so many times were I could have set the record straight and didn't.

It's been a week.

One whole week and I still haven't acknowledged that he lives in the tower. I can feel his emotions each time I'm in the same room as him. They spark with hope, only to drop and die when I do ignore him. All my emotions told me things, things that I should do. I just can't… I don't know what it is but it's like I'm afraid that he won't accept that I am sorry about how I have been acting and treating him. Granted I've been giving him great reasons why, but…

Wisdom is right. He did have every reason to not trust us, and now that it's all out in the open I'm acting like a three year old because I didn't get _my_ way. I'm supposed to be the level headed and sensible one on this team and yet _I'm_ the one that is throwing the tantrum. It is downright embarrassing, and I need to fix it, own up to my mistakes and repair whatever damage that has been done.

I did get a call earlier from Robin saying that the Titan's East were going to call us. That was a very interesting video chat. For one, it was to see if Dani would get along with their team, and two, Danny was supposed to decide whether or not he would let Dani join their team permanently. I was able to sense how fearful and protective he was over her, and it was almost scary. Though with the both of them sharing the same abilities, we did need to spread them out, but it was the GIW that was keeping him from fully deciding. That was a very good reason to be protective, but he seemed to think that she was going to be in far more danger should they ever learn the truth about her. I didn't get how that was a big deal, but she seemed to understand his reasoning and even agreed with him on that. There was something that they were still hiding, but if it was something that Dani knew would make it ten times worse if the GIW captured her, then we should wait until they were both ready to release that information.

I didn't like it, but after this recent revelation, I guess I needed to keep my thoughts to myself and accept that we all have secrets about ourselves and ones that we didn't want others to know. This was going to be classified as one of them and I should just accept it.

Did I mention that he got a hair cut? No... well I can honestly say the blonde didn't look that good on him. He did have more of a shaggy skater look and his hairs original color or ebony was a better fit. He finally looked like a guy. It was about damn time too, it was getting to the point that him and his cousin were both looking like girls. Yeshh, that would have been a problem, not like they don't have the same name or anything confusing like that already...

Back to the point, there were a few good things that did come from this call. One, Danny was going to let his cousin join their team, and while I did understand his feeling to protect his only family left, having two half-ghost half-human hybrids on our team was overkill. Two, I did make some progress with him, in my mind at least. He was having a little trip down memory lane when Bumblebee asked about the GIW, and his emotions were flying off him in waves. I'm surprised I didn't break anything with the blast of emotions I received just by feeling them. Beast Boy was being his usual idiot self and I had to explain to him, while vaguely explaining to the Titan's East that he does had PTSD at times as well as trying to keep those said memories suppressed to keep everyone else safe. In a sense I did defend him, but he was still getting ready to freak out. We needed to change the subject or get him out of the room, I didn't want him to go through another episode while we were in a video call and with Dani witnessing it. It would scare her to see him like that, in a fit of rage that was near impossible to stop would not make a good impression on the Titans East.

He did decide to leave the room, probably going to cool himself down. I guessed that meant I should go to apologize to him but I don't think it was going to happen. I needed to make small steps in order to progress on healing this broken mess that I created.

* * *

**So, yeah... This short filler of sorts is the torture you have been waiting for. Again, super sorry for taking forever. I do have the next chapter 3/4 of the way done so it will not be that long of a wait for the next one, and that one is going to get back on track with the Teen Titans episodes, ****assuming I survive my 21st birthday of course.** It's the "Bunny Raven" episode. Hehe!

**Oh, do feel free to PM me if I ever take that long to update again! I mean it. I don't like to post those A/N chapters and get peoples hopes up about a new chapter just to say _"Hey, not an actual update, just letting you all know why I'm not updating."_ Ya, I'm sure we all don't like those even if they do explain why. Or maybe I'm just weird like that... :/**

**Thanks to all those that reviewed and followed me, and for sticking with me through the horribly long update waiting periods. It means a lot to me that more and more people are continuing to read this story! :D**

**Anyways, I updates with my phone so sorry for any weirdness that show up. PM me with any questions and I hope everything and everyone wasn't too OOC. So, until next time!**


End file.
